Clay High eliminated Pensacola Escambia in the Region 1-4A Semifinals. The Blue Devils will play at Fort Walton Beach Choctawhatchee (25-6) on Friday, May 8, in a best-of-three series in the region finals. Game 1 is at noon. 

St. Johns dropped University Christian in Region 1-1A. The Spartans will host Tallahassee St. John Paul II in the region finals on Friday, May 8, at 7 p.m. 

It wasn’t all good for Clay County teams as Buchholz eliminated Oakleaf in two games in the Region 1-6A Semifinals. 

Rain forced Clay to play a rare Sunday game to wrap up the regional semifinal championship. The Blue Devils beat Escambia in Game 1, 5-0, on Saturday by scoring four runs in the first five innings, including two in the third. Rylan McMahan and Lukas Moore both hit doubles, with McMahan's double in the first after Peyton McRae walked. 

Escambia's pitching fell apart in the third with walks to score two more runs on two wild pitches. Moore doubled in the fifth, and Clay later scored off another wild pitch by pinch baserunner Carson Connolly, who got to third base after McMahan singled. 

McMahan continued his double-digit strikeout counts with 10, working five innings. Reliever Braden Phenneger closed the game with three more strikeouts. 

Game 2 on Saturday night was washed out by rain. 

The makeup on Sunday was highlighted by a 13-strikeout effort by Ethan Martin in an 8-1 victory to send the Blue Devils to the region finals against the Indians (25-6). Escambia was forced to use five pitchers to try to halt the Blue Devils’ batting lineup, but to no avail. Tyler Gunsaulus also had three RBI for Clay. 
In the opposite semifinal, Choctawhatchee defeated St. Augustine in the three games – 2-3, 9-4, 4-1. 

Other Class 4A region finals will be Osceola (23-6) at Tampa Jesuit (24-5) in Region 3; American Heritage (19-9) hosting Somerset Academy (17-12) in Region 4; and Eustis (17-13) at Bishop Moore (27-2) in Region 2. 

In 2025, Clay defeated Escambia before losing to Arnold in nine innings in the region final twice (2-0 and 7-6 in nine innings). Arnold lost to American Heritage 3-2 in the state semifinal before Heritage beat Mulberry 6-1 in the 4A championship game. Mulberry beat Tampa Jesuit 3-2 to get to the championship game. 

St. Johns Country Day schools University Christian in Region 1-1A semis 

The St. Johns Spartans took advantage of northeasterly gusts after a soggy, tornado-warned afternoon, and rocked three homers en route to an 8-2 Game 2 win and Region 1-1A sweep over University Christian on Saturday. 

The Spartans beat University on Friday, 4-2, in Game 1 of the best-of-three series. 

Brayden Harris hit two of the three dingers, with Hunter Rodgers getting his second in the two-game series after a monster shot in Game 1. Both players have had the hot bats in a three-game stretch, with Harris hitting one and Rodgers hitting two, going back to the Spartans' 15-0 win over Rocky Bayou Christian, and one in each of the games against University Christian. Harris also whiffed 12 batters against Rocky Bayou and 10 in game one against University Christian. Gavin Coffey struck out 14 in game two against University Christian. 

With the series win, St. Johns, now 22-8, will advance to the region final on Friday, May 8, against St. John Paul II (18-8), at St. Johns Country Day School. John Paul II defeated Christ's Church (4-1) and Covenant School (7-6 and 7-2). 

St. John Paul II hit for two doubles, a triple and a homer in its 7-6 win in Game 1 against Covenant, with the triple coming in the ninth inning with two baserunners on for the walk-off. 

In Game 2, the Panthers opened early with two runs in the first inning and three in the third with a triple for the win. 
Around the state in Class 1A region finals, Canterbury (25-3) is set to face Neumann (18-12) in Region 3-1A; Orangewood Christian (24-3) will host Mount Dora Christian (24-5) in Region 2; and Schoolhouse Prep (15-13) will host Brito (10-13) in Region 4. 

In 2025, St. Johns Country Day School defeated Brito, 2-0, in the Class 1A state semifinal before losing, 6-2, to Canterbury in the championship game. Canterbury defeated Orangewood Christian, 3-2, in the state semifinal. 

Oakleaf’s season ended by Buchholz sweep 

Oakleaf High's season finished with Gainesville Buchholz taking 5-3 and 7-1 Region 1-6A semifinal home wins over the Knights in their best-of-three semifinal series on a Friday, May 1, doubleheader. 

In Game 1, Oakleaf took a 1-0 lead into the fifth before Buchholz scored four runs on wild pitches and a two-run homer on Oakleaf pitcher Henry Mills, who was masterful in keeping the vaunted Bobcats batting lineup in check behind great plays from his defense. 

In Game 2, Buchholz took a 2-1 lead to the fourth before adding two more runs to pull away from the Knights. Luis Mendoza had two doubles, and he scored a run in the second off a single by Sebastian Albaneze. A second double in the seventh was surrounded by three strikeouts for Oakleaf. 

Oakleaf finishes under coach Jonathan Shiver with a 13-16 record, a regional playoff victory and a semifinal round berth.