ORANGE PARK - St. Johns Country Day School is known for girls soccer with their basket of state titles and Spartan baseball coach Tom Lucas coyly smiled when he revealed that he and soccer coach Mike Pickett have been talking.

"He's got the blueprint to winning with his soccer team and it starts with fitness," said Lucas, now in his third year at the helm for St. Johns baseball. "My guys work out with his girls in the morning and it has paid off. We want to be at their level."

Lucas, now at 7-5 overall, 2-1 in district 2-3A play, admitted that his ascension into the conversation of north Florida baseball has not been easy and that, this year, with his schedule revealing a gauntlet of teams; 8A-Fleming Island, 7A-Creekside, 8A-Oakleaf, 8A-Atlantic Coast and 6A-Ridgeview that spark talk of "craziness."

"This year was the first time ever St. Johns has played baseball against Fleming Island," said Lucas, who lost a 3-0 decision last week at Fleming Island High School. "I want my team to be ready for the districts is the objective and seeing the speed of the bigger school game can only make us better."

In their recent games against the powerhouses, St. Johns has come out with the 3-0 loss to Fleming Island (Two runs in the first inning), had a 5-1 lead on Oakleaf before succumbing 10-5 in the sixth inning, took district 4-6A champions Ridgeview to eight innings before losing 2-0 and will face off with Creekside and Atlantic Coast next week. Last year, St. Johns lost in the district semifinals by a run.

"It's rough, but we are improving with our attitude about being intimidated by teams at that caliber," said Lucas. "When I made the phone calls to ask those guys to play us, some said I was a little crazy and moving a little fast on the program. I thought we could handle it. The kids are getting better about the challenge and what it means."

Early in March, St. Johns lost a close 4-3 contest to Episcopal who recently beat 6A-Clay by a run. The Spartans tied 6-6 with Episcopal in their second preseason game in February. The blemish on the recent schedule was an 11-2 district 4-3A loss to University Christian who remains Lucas' primary concern.

"We have to find a way to beat them," said Lucas, who has Atlantic Coast March 27, Creekside March 31 and a rematch with University Christian on April 7.

"I have seventh graders, eighth graders and a lot of young players that are quickly maturing into quality players," said Lucas. "The game boils down to hit the ball, catch the ball, run smart on the bases and don't make more mistakes than the other guy. Pretty simple."

At the ongoing Atlantic Coast Spring Break invitational, St. Johns had a flurry of hits against Oakleaf to go up 5-1 before a series of fielding errors opened the door the Knights came back to win 10-5. St. Johns rebounded with a 13-3 win over Paxon in their round two game at Atlantic Coast. The Spartans play a third game Wed., March 22.