JACKSONVILLE - Oakleaf High's baseball team nearly had one of its toughest weeks of games with a state champion, a Final Four finisher and a region finalist in a schedule gauntle aimed to test the Knights' mettle.
"This team is built a little differently then the teams in the past," said Oakleaf coach Matt Carter, now in his fourth season at Oakleaf with a region playoff ticket last year (lost in first round 5-0 to Hagerty) and a 19-win season in 2023. "We look at each game as we want to be the team that bats, makes a game plan and executes the game plan. My staff is determined to get the best out of our guys. We have a few more tricks up our sleeves. We are a tough team when we lock in. I think we will surprise some people in the playoffs."
Game one, March 26, was a visit from Class 2A defending champions St. Johns Country Day School (Now 1A) that finished as an 11-7 loss with both teams locked at 4-4 into the fifth inning and Oakleaf rolling to a 7-4 lead in the fifth.
"This group of seniors has a good run in them with a playoff spot last year, 19 wins the year before," said Carter. "Games like this we kind of dropped the games and we got beat."
Oakleaf gave the Spartans a 4-0 first inning lead with a series of errors and a Bradyn Harris double for St. Johns, but Oakleaf responded with JP Espinosa doubling his second ball from Spartan pitcher Ethan Bissell with the Knights bashing two more singles to follow before Elijah Brown rapped a run scoring single and Jeter Farina stealing home to get the score to 4-3.
"Our goal is to do the little stuff; put some bunts down, get some guys on walks, hit by pitch and just get around the bases," said Carter. "I don't think we go out trying to have the big inning with big hits, but just take each inning and try and scratch a run here and there and let it add up."
With Joel Kirk on the mound, Oakleaf kept pace until the third when Farina doubled in Espinosa from third to tie the game.
St. Johns looked to pile on some runs in the fifth, but a double play from Farina to Espinosa to Jonah Wynne at first ended the inning on a George Gilliand grounder.
Espinosa bashed a homer to push the Knights ahead 5-4 with two more singles; Sebastian Albaneze and Jay Arzuaga-Flores, and a walk to Brown gave Oakleaf their best shot at a runs explosion. Connor Tant singled in two more runs, 7-4, but Mendoza was whiffed by relief pitcher Mason Williams to stifle the wave of energy.
Then, the shoe hit the floor and St. Johns did what St. Johns does; wears out defenses.
An 11-7 Spartan lead followed off singles, walks and a crucial error.
Round two: Knights beat Ponte Vedra, 5A regional qualifier last year, 6-4, Jackson Clark six strikeouts; Farina with four.
Round three: A road trip to 1A region finalist Newberry, a 22-6 finisher last year and now 10-7, that finished as an 8-7 loss for Oakleaf.
Down 6-2 into the fourth, Oakleaf got hot with three runs in the fourth; two via error on an Espinosa grounder, one on a Farina grounder to close the gap to 6-5.
Newberry answered with two singles and a bunt to retake the lead 8-5, but Oakleaf got a passed ball and grounder from Angel Perez to get the score to 8-7, but Noah Johnson struck out.
Both pitchers locked in to end the game with Abrien Pasiero on the mound and by way of a nifty toss and tag from Johnson to Espinosa on a second base steal attempt.
Round four: On the home field of Trinity Christian Academy, 18-3, (No. 1 in 2A, No. 4 in Florida, Final Four last year), Oakleaf had a tenuous 2-0 lead on Trinity off an error and an RBI single from Johnson in the second, then singles by Espinosa and Arzuaga-Flores for the 2-0 lead in the third.
"We beat them last year in their home tournament so we knew we could hang with them if we played error free," said Carter. "We've been in a lot of these games and we've won some and we've lost some. We were up against St. Johns late, against Trinity late. Trinity has like 14 NCAA Division I players and they had 20-25 scouts out there. It was a big atmosphere."
Smart infield plays from Brown, Espinosa and Arzuaga-Flores kept the Conquerors at bay even with two baserunners in the fourth being stranded and Albaneze left snagged on a second base steal attempt keeping things interesting.
"Our defense has played some great games and four or five less errors and we have 14 or 15 wins," said Carter. "Right now, we are that underdog kind of team going toward the playoffs. We will get that game that everything bounces our way."
Pasiero gave up three singles in the fifth to score the game at 2-1, but Oakleaf's bats could not connect and Trinity got a double and single to tie in the sixth with an error the game changer with Trinity now up 3-2.
A Wynne single and two errors tied the game at 3-3 with Trinity up in the bottom of the seventh.
Pasiero held court until a double and single in the eighth produced the game winning run for Trinity.
Oakleaf gets a visit from Georgia powerhouse North Oconee High (GA. 19-5 in 4A, 14th in Georgia, 5th in 4A, Final Four last year) with 7A-Sandalwood and 1A St. Joseph Academy (1A 17-4-1, No. 3 in 1A) to finish.
"These type of games are designed to let us see what the best competition looks like," said Carter. "Even the games against top teams from Tennessee let us see other styles of play that maybe we don't see here."

In other games, Clay, 14-9, had their shot at Trinity, but fell 8-6 despite a five run sixth inning with the Blue Devils piling up runs with four runs scoring singles to put the game at 8-7. Trinity got two runs off balks for the win.
Clay heads to Ridgeview on Wednesday, Aprl 9 with Keystone Heights visiting on April 10.
Keystone Heights, 16-5, is on a three game win streak with wins over Fernandina Beach (9-1), Bradford (16-3) and Fleming Island (8-0). The Indians, led by top hitter Destin Hardage who got four hits against Fleming Island; one a double, has three batters above .400 with 128 runs batted in.
Fleming Island, 6-16, finishes with Flagler Palm Coast, Fletcher and Fernandina Beach.
Middleburg, 9-13, looks to reverse a five of six game losing streak with a tough first of three at Bishop Snyder (16-5, 6th in 2A, beat Clay 5-0 April 1), then Orange Park and Stanton.
St. Johns Country Day School, 15-7, lost an 8-5 game to Georgia's Richmond Hill on April 2, but turn the tables on 7A-Creekside (15-8, 15th in Florida, 7th in 7A) 3-2 two days later. The Spartans worked to a 2-2 tie in the seventh before four walks won the game.
St. Johns had a four game losing streak in March and is now at 41st in Florida, but No. 1 in Class 1A.
The Spartans finish at home with games against North Oconee (GA. 19-5 in 4A, 14th in Georgia, 5th in 4A, Final Four last year), Parkview (GA, 19-6, 7A region finalist last year, numerous state titles) and Eagle's View.
Orange Park, 7-15, finishes with a home game with Englewood, a road game to Middleburg and a home game against Paxon.