BAKER COUNTY – Oakleaf High softball continued its need to play the best in the area with a three-run first inning homer from Angela Agurkis spurring an 8-3 non-district win over 5A-power Baker County Friday night at Baker County High School. Baker County is the 2015 5A champions.
Oakleaf enters the district 2-8A tournament seemingly hitting on all cylinders with another revamping of the batting lineup having Katie Kristler as leadoff and Agurkis as the cleanup batter forcing enemy pitchers guessing on the where the power is going to come from.
Kirstler, Alex Acevedo, Rebecca Koskey and Agurkis offers a formidable opening salvo with Haley Willis, Baylee Goddard and Mika Garcia presenting the second round of power bats for coach Christina Thompson.
Oakleaf has had a torrid second half schedule, but the Knights have responded with hammerings of Atlantic Coast (10-0), Fleming Island (5-1) and the Baker County game, but 4A-Trinity Christian offered just a 1-0 win and Mandarin flexed some early muscle on the third of Oakleaf’s pitchers, Cambria Arturo, before having to score four run in the sixth for the 6-5 Oakleaf win. Reliever Madi Davis finished out the final two innings for Oakleaf. Davis and senior Kelsey Sweatt have been mowing down batters since the Knights’ Kissimmee Klassic tournament win and will continue to do so through regions as the Knights’ have 15 shutouts on the season.
Fleming Island, also in district 2-8A, has the batting firepower to score runs quickly, but the Golden Eagles, who took Atlantic Coast to a 1-0 game into the sixth inning, have to pace their attack through the game with pitcher Jordan Rosette the only threat on the mound. Madi Lanoux, Tiffany Steczo and Jordan Hunt lead the attack with third baseman Morgan Grimm being a vacuum on the hot corner. Maya Littles has transitioned into a fine second baseman after a season in centerfield with Sammy Dill putting speed to work tracking flyballs in centerfield.

District 2-8A
At Atlantic Coast

Teams (by seed): Oakleaf, Atlantic Coast, First Coast, Fletcher, Fleming Island, Lee

Schedule: Mon., April 24 Fletcher vs. Fleming Island, (Fletcher wins).; First Coast vs. Lee, 7 p.m.; Tuesday, Oakleaf vs. Fletcher/Fleming winner, 5 p.m.; Atlantic Coast vs. First Coast/Lee winner, 7 p.m.; Thursday, championship, 6 p.m.

Lady Indians rolling at right time

KEYSTONE HEIGHTS - Led by a set of quick legs on the basepaths, the Lady Indians softball of Keystone Heights (16-9) enters the district 5-5A championship as top seeds after late wins over district challenger Santa Fe (in 10 innings), 1A-power Union County (a 3-2 win) and a win over 7A-Middleburg (7-6) in their season finale with five seventh inning run yielding the victory.
Ashleigh Jennings, Molly Crawford, Megan Moncrief and Bri Wells have been the main pushers of the pace for coach Jessica Marquart who will be looking to get past a probable Santa Fe showdown in the district final followed by a deep region run. Wells hit the game-winning double against Middleburg that scored the two winning runs.
Keystone Heights’ only losses in the final week of play were to 6A-Clay (4-3) the top seed in district 4-6A and 7A-Gainesville (7-2), the top seed in 3-7A and also the defending 7A champions.

District 5-5A
At Keystone Heights

Teams (by seed): Keystone Heights, Santa Fe, Bradford, Gainesville PK Yonge, Palatka

Schedule: Monday, PK Yonge vs. Palatka, 6 p.m.; Tuesday, Santa Fe vs. Bradford, 5 p.m.; PK Yonge/Palatka winner vs. Keystone, 7 p.m.; Thursday, championship, 7 p.m.

Lady Blue Devils hope home field advantage gets edge against Ponte Vedra

GREEN COVE SPRINGS - Clay High softball coach Matt Lewis used to fret his matchups with Ponte Vedra High in past year just because that was the clash that was determining who moved on and who stayed home. Clay won the district title last year, but lost a week later in the region semifinal with Ponte Vedra the opponent in both games.
In 2017, Lewis’ friend and former assistant coach Roger Harvey, now at Ridgeview High, has emerged as that wild card threat in the shadows with a cadre of girls simply tired of being the losing team.
On Tues., April 25, the two friends will meet in the district 4-6A semifinal at Clay High after Ridgeview defeated Menendez in Monday’s opening round game.
Clay (14-8, 7-1) and Ponte Vedra (16-7, 7-1) have had their usual clashes (2-1 Clay win, 1-0 Ponte Vedra win) and thus the coin flip to Clay for the top seed, but Lewis is quick to mention Harvey’s ability to urge his team to a higher plane of playing.
Clay hiccuped against 5A-Baker County (6-0) and 9A-Mandarin (10-9) in April and Lewis has a cadre of playmakers surrounding power pitcher Morgan Crutcher led by second baseman Allison Byrd, a four-year starter for Lewis, daughter Sydney Lewis who has emerged as a gamer in the at-bat box and baserunning flash Jessica Powell giving Clay plenty of ways to move baserunners to scoring position. When they do that, Clay is hard to beat.
Ridgeview relies on big hits from freshman Chloe Chambers and senior leadership to keep games within striking distance. Unfortunately for Harvey, his only recent losses were to Ponte Vedra and Clay with nine wins surrounding them.
If Harvey can turn up the heat just a notch, he may get a bounce against either team.

District 4-6A
at Clay

Teams (by seed): Clay, Ponte Vedra, Orange Park, Ridgeview, Menendez

Schedule: Monday, Menendez vs. Ridgeview, (RHS wins).; Tuesday, Orange Park vs. Ponte Vedra, 5 p.m.; Menendez/Ridgeview winner vs. Clay, 7 p.m.; Thursday, championship, 7 p.m.


District 2-3A
At Gainesville Oak Hall

Teams (by seed): Oak Hall, St. Johns Country Day, University Christian, St. Joseph, Gainesville St. Francis

Schedule: Monday, St. Joseph vs. St. Francis, 4 p.m.; Tuesday, St. Johns CD vs. UC, 1 p.m.; St. Joseph/St. Francis winner vs. Oak Hall, 4 p.m.; Thursday, championship, 4 p.m.


District 3-7A
At Middleburg

Teams (by seed): Gainesville, Columbia, Middleburg, Ocala Vanguard

Schedule: Tuesday, Columbia vs. Middleburg, 5 p.m.; Gainesville vs. Vanguard, 7 p.m.; Thursday, championship, 7 p.m.