GREEN COVE SPRINGS - Clay, Keystone Heights and St. Johns Country Day School have all been selected as number one seeds in their respective baseball classes and will continue into the region baseball playoffs.
As district champions, all three teams will host the first two of a three-game series to determine who advances to the region semifinals.
The second and third round home teams will be the higher seeds if the district champions do not advance.
For Clay, the winner of a 7-3 district title over Baker County, the Blue Devils will have Bishop Kenny visiting for the first two games of the region 1-4A opener. Bishop Kenny is 7-19 and won their district 4-4A title with a 3-2 win over Yulee.
In the opposite region opener, with the winner to play the winner of Clay vs. Bishop Kenny in round two, Pensacola Escambia will play Wakulla.
In the opposite end of the region bracket, the four teams will be Arnold (21-6, beat Wakulla (14-11) 6-1 for district title) vs. Fort Walton Beach and Choctawhatchee vs. St. Augustine.
Arnold was a region finalist last year losing 6-1 to eventual 4A runnerup South Walton. Bishop Kenny lost in the region semifinal last year also to South Walton. Wakulla lost to Arnold in the region semifinals. Arnold lost to South Walton in the region final.
Clay, in Class 5A last year, lost in the region finals to Lincoln 2-0; Lincoln losing in the state semifinal to American Heritage.

Class 4A Rankings (Region 1-4A)
3. Arnold (21-6)
6. Clay (18-9)
8. Escambia (21-5)
16. Choctawhatchee (15-12)
25. St. Augustine (12-13)
26. Wakulla (14-11)
40. Bishop Kenny (7-19)
42. Fort Walton Beach (12-12)

For Keystone Heights and most of the region 1-2A bracket, all formerly in Class 3A, now in region 1-2A, the opening round will feature home games against Bishop Snyder with Bozeman (Panama City) and Bolles in the opposite first round bracket.
Not repeating in Class 2A is defending champion St. Johns Country Day School, now in Class 1A.
In the upper bracket, Trinity Christian Academy will host Maclay of Tallahassee with Providence and Episcopal staying close to home in the other end of that side of the bracket.
Trinity Christian Academy 23-4) is top seed and ranked No. 1 in Class 2A with Bishop Snyder (20-6) close by at number five. Bozeman is eighth with a 22-4 record with Bolles (16-9) ranked 19th. Providence and Episcopal are at 10th and 11th, 15-10 and 20-6, respectively.
Keystone Heights, 19-7, is ranked 25th in 2A. Maclay is 31st at 16-7.
Last year in Class 3A, Keystone Heights lost in round one to Pensacola Catholic, Bishop Snyder lost to Trinity Christian Academy in the region final, Bolles lost to Trinity Christian in the region semifinals and Providence lost to Bolles in the region quarters. Trinity Christian lost in the state semifinals to eventual 3A runnerup Westminster Christian 6-4.

Class 2A Rankings (Region 1-2A)

1. Trinity Christian Academy (22-4)
5. Bozeman (22-4)
6. Bishop Snyder (20-5)
17. Keystone Heights (18-7)
18. Providence (15-10)
25. Episcopal (20-6)
26. Bolles (16-9)
33. Maclay (15-7)

The return to Class 1A gives St. Johns Country Day School an opportunity to win back-to-back state titles in two different classes.
St. Johns, the top seed, will host Covenant School of Jacksonville with St. Johns Paul II and North Florida Christian in the bottom end to face the Spartans in round two. All three schools are familiar with each other with the trio annually in the mix to the region final.
At the bottom of the bracket in region 1-1A, University Christian has Rocky Bayou Christian while St. Joseph Academy will have Christ's Church Academy to showcase two northeast Jacksonville programs.
In 2024, University Christian lost to St. Johns in Class 2A region semifinals with St. Johns beating North Florida Christian in the region final en route to the Class 2A title, a 4-3 win over Miami Christian.
North Florida Christian defeated St. Johns Paul II in the region opener with North Florida Christian beating St. Joseph Academy to get to St. Johns in the region final. St. Joseph's Academy beat Christ's Church Academy to advance.

Class 1A Rankings (Region 1-1A)
1. St. Johns Country Day School (19-8)
5. University Christian (17-8)
6. St. Joseph Academy (19-7-1)
10. St. John Paul II (16-6)
18. North Florida Christian (10-15)
24. Christ's Church Academy (14-11)
26. Rocky Bayou Christian (9-6-1)
33. Covenant School of Jax (15-11)