GREEN COVE SPRINGS - The Clay Blue Devil offense dominated the visiting St. Johns Beachside Barracudas from the first pitch when Cole Carnell singled, starting an offensive onslaught of the Barracudas. Merrick Rapoza drove in seven runs, including a grand slam in the second inning. The Blue Devils sent the Barracudas packing in only five innings with a 12-0 shellacking in the Region 1-5A semifinal round.

“I got tired of the posts about Orange Park (winning the district title eight days ago). I think people forgot about us, so we had to remind them of just who we were,” said Clay Head Coach Josh Persinger, elated with his team’s performance. “That’s a game where we did what we’re supposed to do, scored in every inning, won the fifth, and threw strikes. We’ve had pieces of that all year, but tonight we put it all together.”
Rylan McMahan would lead the Blue Devil defense, going the distance on the hill for Clay. McMahan held a no-hitter through all five innings, striking out seven Barracudas.
Beachside could do nothing to pull back the energy coming from the Clay dugout as the top of the first were three batters up, three outs. As Clay went on offense, the barrage began from that first pitch.
With Carnell on first, Parker Lowrance pushed him over to second with a left-field grounder through the hole. Rapoza started his perfect night at the plate with his first appearance; a two-RBI triple to bump Clay up, 2-0. LJ Martin followed with an RBI single to right, scoring Rapoza, 3-0.
The second inning did not go any better at the plate for Beachside as a walk had their first runner on base with one out, only to have the Blue Devils crush any hopes of getting back in the game. A Barracuda grounder had Parker Lowrance throw from third base to Peyton McRae at second base for out two, then McRae over to Rapoza at first for a double play to close the inning.
In the third inning, the Blue Devils crushed the hopes of the Beachside dugout. With one out, Carnell was hit by a pitch to put the first runner on. McMahan and Lowrance both walked to load the bases. With a curveball first pitch, Rapoza tattooed the ball over the right field fence, into the treetops for a grand slam to push ahead 7-0. Lukas Moore would add another run for the breakout inning with an RBI single to score Martin, 8-0.
Clay continued stacking runs with two more in the second. Rapoza RBI singled to score Carnell, 9-0. Martin kept the mojo rolling with another RBI single into center field, scoring Lowrance, 10-0.
In the fourth inning, a Moore walk, followed by McMahan's hit by a pitch, and Luis Edargo Rivera Valentin loaded the bases with a right-field single. A wild pitch opened the door for Moore, 11-0. The other runners also advanced bases on the errant pitch. A passed ball allowed the final Clay run to cross the plate, 12-0.
The challenge for the Blue Devils now; how do you come out with that intensity again as the team will travel to Tallahassee to take on the number one Lincoln Trojans. “I think a lot of it is this is the difference between a younger program, and these guys,” said Persinger. In 2012, we went to the state semifinal. Once you had a taste of that, there is nothing like it. That is the ultimate goal. The preparation we put in throughout the last four years will show, that this is our bread and butter.”