FERNANDINA BEACH - Fleming Island High baseball coach Mike Martino got one of the more significant wins in a crazy 2026 season that has his Eagles at 15-8 right now with a 4-3 win at Fernandina Beach on Friday, April 3.

"This team has gone from six wins last year to 15 wins this year and that is a testament to their hard work," said Martino, who celebrated 300 career wins earlier in the season.  "This team is very good on defense We have good pitching and if our bats come alive at the right time which they could be right now, we could be a difference maker in the district tournament."

Area district baseball tournaments will be starting April 14-17.
Fleming Island had a two-game win streak—6-0 over DeLand and 5-4 over Menendez—and snapped with a strange 1-0 loss to Beachside on April 1 in a 10-inning test of wills before traveling two days later to Fernandina Beach and wrestling away at 4-2 win against the third ranked in 3A Pirates (17-4).

Martino's Eagles got hit with 16 strikeouts in the Beachside game but still hung on with a walk off single in the 10th. The winning score for Beachside had a walk, an error and an intentional walk strategy, but Beachside got the walk off single.

"What this team is good at is they play hard to the very end," said Martino. "However the season ends, this team has been fun to watch grow from last year to this year."

Against Fernandina Beach, Fleming Island, up 3-1 after the first inning with two singles, a walk and an RBI double from Connor Massey, generated plenty of opportunity but left baserunners stranded numerous times—two in the first, three in the seventh and two in the ninth and 10th. In the ninth, a double from Tucker Fordham was negated with two strikeouts ending the scoring threat.

Next up is Bartram Trail (14-8) also in a topsy turvy season with a six-game losing streak to open the season, then a six-game win streak that ended last week with a tough 3-2 loss to Lincoln on April 4.

Around the county, local teams have been playing strong ball, but errors seem to be the Achilles heel.

Clay High's baseball coach Josh Persinger's long standing mantra has always been "we get to the playoffs and then we play our best," but the Blue Devils dropped a week's worth of games—a five-game losing streak, albeit against the two of the top teams in Florida.

Starting with two sixth inning matches with Class 1A number one St. Johns Country Day School, 13th in Florida, that ended badly in the seventh innings of both, Clay had to regroup and refocus for a second two-game bonanza with National High School Tournament champion Trinity Christian Academy, seventh in Florida, number one in Class 2A, the following week.

With that in mind and the old adage "battle tested" in mind, Persinger may have seen a little more than he wanted in those latter innings against St. Johns Country Day School; 3-2 and 6-3 losses with Clay up 2-1 in the sixth of the first one, and 2-2 in fifth in game two.

"We will see if the team can take being in a week of games against two of the best teams in the country and, maybe having one bad game, we were in the games," said  Persinger. "It's a  measure of maturity to take failure and make changes to be better. We shall see."

Clay came back from those two games with some bruises but also with a new energy after taking on the powerhouse Spartans, but St. Augustine did not care as the Yellow Jackets punched out a 1-0 win over Clay with a fourth inning single and double the lone scoring sequence.

Clay attempted some momentum but left two baserunners on base in the fifth and got caught at home with two more baserunners in play in the seventh for a possible game winning scenario. The Blue Devils had four errors in game two and two in a 1-0 loss to St. Augustine.

After St. Augustine, Clay had to entertain Trinity Christian and wound up with an 8-1 loss, two errors and a 14-0 drubbing—four errors, in that two-game series. Trinity hit a triple and a double for scoring barrages in game two with a three-run homer in the third making things crazy.

Clay hits the road for two of three final games: Episcopal and Keystone Heights sandwiched around a home match with Ridgeview.

"We just have to stay focused that when we play well, we win," said Persinger. "When losses like this happen, it stinks, but, in the end, it's a learning experience that goes further than a baseball game."

In Class 1A, St. Johns Country Day School continued coach Tom Lucas' self-induced want of the best competition he can get with three Georgia powerhouses visiting Orange Park this week.

On Tuesday, it was North Gwinnett, ranked 31st in Georgia at 17-4 who was 35-5 last year in Georgia's Class 6A with a loss in last year's state semifinals.
On Wednesday, ironically, it was Parkview High, 15-9-1, who lost in the third round of the state tournament last year and just lost 2-1 to North Gwinnett a week ago. Parkview was 26-11 last year in 6A also.

And, on Wednesday, it was No. 1 in Georgia North Oconee, a Class 4A powerhouse at 18-3-1 now and 27-8 last year. North Oconee lost in the state quarters last year to Altoona High.

Middleburg's surprising season, 14-4, was on an eight-game win streak before a surprising 2-0 loss to Oakleaf on April 2 with Knights pitcher Henry Mills whiffing eight Broncos. Bronco catcher Mason Greene stuffed Oakleaf with a home plate crash and tag to prevent one run but the normally hot Bronco bats; with three games with 11 runs in the win streak were held at bay by Mills and Oakleaf's defense.

Oakleaf is handling a three-game win streak with wins over Orange Park, Middleburg and Atlantic Coast behind a slew of solid hits and opportunistic baserunning to home plate. The Knights, 8-13, could be surging into the districts with games with Ed White, Keystone Heights, University Christian and Orange Park on the hook.

Ridgeview, 8-12, has just been unlucky with four one-run losses in a six-game losing streak. Ridgeview had Fernandina Beach on Monday, April 6, then Clay on Wednesday and Paxon on Thursday.

Keystone Heights, 7-13, got a 6-5 win over Orange Park with a Ryder Trull walk off single and may be getting a surge into the districts with a district that includes Newberry (16-5), Trinity Catholic (17-4) and P.K. Yonge (13-8).

Orange Park, 10-11, is also in a tough district with Ponte Vedra (13-9), Beachside (14-9) the top two teams with Englewood still winless (0-13). The Raiders have played and lost twice to Ponte Vedra but know what the Sharks can do. Orange Park had a bases loaded scenario in the seventh in their 4-2 loss to Ponte Vedra that ended with a strikeout.

In the second game, Orange Park put four on the board while down 7-0 into the seventh then gave up singles and walks to go to 9-4 with the Sharks striking out the lineup after a flyout.