FLEMING ISLAND - For the second consecutive night, the Fleming Island High baseball team ensured the fans stayed around to the finish as the visiting Ridgeview Panthers would bend and not break through nine innings until Fleming Island’s Sammy Kondroik popped a fly ball to short centerfield with loaded bases and only one out to score Aiden Mastantuno for the nine inning 1-0 win Friday night at Fleming Island High School.
“I knew I elevated it and got it right off the sweet spot, so I just knew whatever happened with the play, one way or another we were going to score that run” said Sammy Kondroik. “When I saw they couldn’t play it and it fell in the gap, I knew it was over.”
The thrilling win capped off a 2-1 eight inning win over Ponte Vedra the night before with Marcus Murray hitting a one-out sacrifice fly to score Justin Lebesch.
The two days of baseball were also highlighted by a seventh inning 1-0 win for Ridgeview over Bolles on Tues. Feb. 25. The Panthers battled Bolles to a 0-0 seventh inning before two Bulldog errors, a sacrifice bunt from Chase McFarland and a single from Calvin Gunsaulus scored Hunter McCrae for the 1-0 win.
“I tell my kids that in heavyweight games like the past couple, it will come down to who flinches first,” said Ridgeview coach John Sgromolo. “With the new seeding system for playoffs and, I think, an big improvement in the development of young players, this season will be very competitive for everyone. Plus, the cold weather always affects hitting.”
For Fleming Island coach Grant Bigilin, he agreed that finding seams in opposing team’s is what the game is about.
“We found a way to win in the end. I told them that could have been a lot less stressful,” said Fleming Island coach Grant Biglin, after the Ponte Vedra win. “It is what it is. We could have done ourselves some favors, saved some pitches for our guys, but a win is a win.”
The Sharks, a Clay County nemesis for years against Clay and Ridgeview in that former district, were not even scheduled to play the Golden Eagles. But with rains in the area the past two nights, both teams needed a game to get back to playing. On what was one of the coldest nights in weeks, the teams would play ping-pong baseball, both putting runners on, only to have them stranded by each other’s defense.
Just like against Ponte Vedra, the Ridgeview game brought temperatures in the 50’s, and again, both teams had a brick wall defense that would keep one another scoreless for multiple innings. The pitching on both sides was remarkable as the Panthers racked up 14 strikeouts; seven apiece to Logan Morris and Jayden Long, and the Golden Eagles’ Cody Carwile notched nine whiffs.
“On defense, what makes it easy is when you have Cody Carwile throwing strike one, strike two, and the contact isn’t very hard. He doesn’t have you on your heels, he’s not walking anybody,” said Bigilin. “It’s left/right bounce, and you’re inspecting the ball. He makes it easy for the defense.” Carwile went zero bases on balls.
Through eight innings, both teams had opportunities, only to leave their teammates on the bag with nothing to show.
In the top of the ninth, with two outs, the Panthers would again get a runner on, only to have one last strikeout end the
effort. Then the Panthers committed the one mistake that they couldn’t recover from. After a strike and foul, the Panthers threw four straight balls, loading the bases with only one out. After the walk, the Panthers coach John Sgromolo made a trip to the mound to settle things.
Biglin pulled Kondroik aside to remind him, ”All game, they were playing the lefties different. They were throwing fastball away,” said Bigilin. “If you try to pull off of it, it’s not going to do you any good. Stay in it.” Kondroik who faced the Panther pitching corps three times with no hits, found a nice outside pitch that fell into the gap behind second base and center field.
“The last at-bat I faced him; he blew two fastballs right by me,” said Kondroik. “I knew he was coming right back with fastball. I took two good hacks, the second being too big. Facing two strikes, I had to shorten up, came out and smacked the ball into right-center and it just felt good.”
Fleming Island improves to 3-0. Ridgeview falls to 2-2.

Spartans bomb Bolles; Clay turns tables in eighth
Clay High baserunner Blake Edwards went face first from third to slide over home plate ahead of St. Johns Country Day School pitcher Jordan Taylor’s attempt at a tag as the Blue Devils staged a thrilling 3-2 win in the eighth inning at Clay High School on Thurs., Feb. 27.
A day later, after a spinetingling bus ride home for the Spartans, St. Johns exacted some fury on Bolles in a 15-3 blasting of the Bulldogs in front of a packed Hugh Donovan Field at Bolles High School.
“I might give that one as a pregame speech,” said St. Johns baseball coach Tom Lucas, after his Bolles win. “Clay’s pitcher did a great job on us. We took some bad swings.”
Against Clay, with a pitching duel between Spartans’ starter Finn Howell (eight strikeouts) and Clay’s Brandon Adams (seven strikeouts), St. Johns struck first in the first inning with Howell getting a walk, advancing on a fly ball and scoring on a Tyler Moore grounder to Clay second baseman B Creswell.
Both defenses stiffened from there with the Spartans getting a nifty double play from Connor Moore in the second inning and Adams shutting down the Spartan batting lineup.
In the eighth, a triple from Parker set up the winning run with Taylor putting a pitch in the dirt for the play at the plate.
Against Bolles and University of Florida pitching commit Sully Brackin, St. Johns hammered away with three and four runs in the third and fourth innings, then pounded for seven in the sixth off 11 hits.
“It was eye-opening at the Clay game and they got exposed by Clay on basic baseball,” said Lucas. “We challenged the team on the bus ride home and the morning of the game. We went back to basic baseball.”
Among the 15 hits for St. Johns against Brackin and three more Bolles pitchers, James Oman homered for St. Johns with Max Arnold hitting for three RBIS and Mason Davis hitting for two RBIs leading the Spartans.

First inning barrage knocks
Oakleaf from unbeatens
Oakleaf High pitcher Logan Schmidt, who finished with nine strikeouts in four innings, gave up three singles and a walk in the first inning with an error that gave visiting Nease a quick 3-0 lead that the Knights could not catch up to in a 5-3 loss on Thurs., Feb. 27. The loss was Oakleaf’s first (4-1) of the year with four wins to start the season; Orange Park, University Christian, Fernandina Beach and Clay with Bolles visiting Oakleaf on Tues., March 3.
Oakleaf then travels to Thomasville, GA, Fleming Island and Episcopal in a three-game road slate.
Against Nease, Oakleaf answered quickly in their first at bat with Dannon Smith doubling and Simon Kohn singling in Smith for a run. Eli Maddox scored off a walk and a passed ball on the final out of the inning to score the game 3-2.
From there, both defenses and Schmidt’s pitching prowess locked down with Nease turning a double play on a Leo Diaz grounder in the third inning.
Oakleaf relief pitcher Landen Wooten gave up the final two runs on a handful of walks and singles in the fifth inning.

Middleburg bats going long
Middleburg opens with hits-heavy wins wins with an 8-3 win over Bradford and an 11-1 win over Orange Park to push to 2-0 in the early going of the 2020 season.
Against Bradford, pitcher Hunter Conway ripped for nine strikeouts to squelch the Tornado batting line up with Samuel Rawlings hitting a double.
Against Orange Park, Luke Padgett hit for four runs batted in on just two at bats; one a double. Conaway, Camron Faucett and Samuel Rawlins all hit doubles with Rawlins nailing two two-baggers. Rawlins sent seven strikeouts in five innings for the win.