"Class 6A is ranked the toughest state championship to win this year in the nation. We ran into a good team on a bad night for us. Tough way to go out."”

Oakleaf coach Heather Han

ORANGE PARK - St. Johns Country Day School baseball got homers from Kyle Boylston and George Gilson in the bottom of the seventh inning to rally the host Spartans to a thrilling 8-6 victory over North Florida Christian in the Class 2A Region 1 Final. Boylston went 3 for 3 at the plate and scored three runs, while Gilson had two hits and two RBI. Nick Bowden also had a two-run double for the Spartans.

The win puts the Spartans back in the Final Four as they finished as Class 2A runner-ups last season to Lakeland Christian.
In Region 1-5A, Clay High has twice been postponed to travel to play Tallahassee Lincoln due to tornadic weather, but the Blue Devils will try again on Wednesday, May 15.
In softball, though, both Middleburg and Oakleaf, in their respective region semifinals, suffered shutout losses to Gainesville, in the region 1-5A tournament for the Broncos and, in the 1-6A tournament, to Hagerty 11-0 to end both teams' seasons.
For Oakleaf coach Heather Han, the teams in Class 6A did not offer any opportunity to have a bad night and she credited a great team from Hagerty and a bad night for her girls.
"Class 6A is ranked the toughest state championship to win this year in the nation," said Han. "We ran into a good team on a bad night for us. Tough way to go out."
For Middleburg coach Ashley Houston, who won the Class 5A championship in 2022, the chase to repeat got halted abruptly by an opponent that was well known as Gainesville beat Middleburg for the district title 4-0, then returned to Middleburg to punch up two homers in the game against Bronco starter Morgan Beckham while Gainesville pitcher Leanna Bourdage struck out 11 batters to stymie the Bronco batting lineup. In the district final, Bourdage whiffed 18 batters for that win.
Middleburg finishes at 22-5.
For Oakleaf, seven runs in the first three innings spelled disaster; one in the first, four in the second and three in the third as Hagerty unloaded on starter Charlotte Maddox with a homer in the first, then a second homer in the second, the two-run double in the second before two costly errors in the third almost blew a fuse on the scoreboard. Oakleaf finishes at 19-9 and as district champions.
For St. Johns, now 23-6, starting pitcher Jack Ensell, the top strikeout artist for coach Tom Lucas, got stung with two homers in the first at-bats for North Florida Christian, the never-say-die attitude of the Spartans answered with four runs of their own in their first trip to the batter's box.
Kyle Boylston and George Gilson both singled in front of Nick Bowden's double which was followed by singles to Kody Daneault and Hunter Rodgers to put St. Johns up 4-2.
"There was no sense of panic," said St. Johns coach Tom Lucas.
The game got tense from that point with neither team making any overt moves to home plate as both pitchers settled in with Kolt Myers coming in for the final two innings for St. Johns while NFC starter Garrett Workman also worked five innings.
In the deciding final at-bat for St. Johns, with NFC up 6-5, Boylston hammered his first pitch to the centerfield fence to tie the game.
"Our seniors said the right thing at the right time 'We got this'," said Lucas. "It was the top of the lineup and they were ready to win the game. NFC has been our rival in probably the last five region finals so they know us and we know them."
Myers walked in front of Gilson who also got his dinger to the left field fence to win the game.
NFC finished at 19-7-2.
St. Johns will travel to Fort Myers' Lee County Sports Complex to play in the Class 2A Final Four with the Spartans set to Northside Christian of St. Petersburg (20-9) on Monday, May 20 at 10 a.m. with the Class 2A title game on Wednesday, May 22.
Also in the Final Four are First Academy of Orlando (24-6) and Miami Christian (21-4) who play also on Monday at 1 p.m.
Class 2A defending champion Lakeland Christian lost 8-6 to the First Academy in the Region 2-2A final. Miami Christian beat John Carroll 6-3 in the Region 4-2A final. Northside Christian beat Carrollwood 1-0 in the Region 3-2A final.