ORANGE PARK - Former Ridgeview High baseball standout Billy Girgis made the right move, in his eyes, when he chose to continue his baseball career at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Georgia a year ago.

"Best place for me after two years at FSCJ (Florida State College-Jacksonville)," said Girgis, a starting second baseman at ABAC. "I learned a lot of things about baseball at the next level and how much better the talent gets. Even at the NAIA level, the talent jumps significantly."

Girgis said that at the next level, the pitching became more "backward."

"More breaking balls, more change ups and not a lot of fastballs," Girgis said. "The pitchers, who are older and more mature, are doing the art of pitching, not just blowing smoke to the plate. It was quite the adjustment."

Abraham Baldwin finished with a 40-17 regular season record, a Southern States Athletic Conference runner-up finish and an NAIA regional playoff berth.

"Not a better group of guys I'd like to play baseball with," said Girgis, who will be a senior next year. "The Southern States Conference is considered one of the toughest in NAIA."

Girgis, who started 44 games, maintained a .336 batting average with his main duty to get on base as the nine hole batter. Girgis had three doubles and one triple with 20 runs batted in.

In their NAIA tournament opener on May 11 against Indiana Tech University, a 16-10 loss by ABAC, Girgis had five hits in five at-bats in his best outing of the season.

"I just try to see the ball and hit the first pitch over the middle," Girgis said. "You usually get the fast ball on the first pitch, and my job is to get on base. We had a couple guys with double-digit homers. We were long ball hitters."

ABAC, eventually ranked 13th in NAIA, came back to beat Mount Mercy University, 6-4, before ending their season with a 10-3 loss to Shawnee State University. Indiana Tech was ranked third, Mount Mercy was ranked fourth and Shawnee State was ranked fifth.

"Florida definitely has the best talent around in the small colleges," Girgis said. "I was very prepared to play at the college level when I graduated."

Girgis is studying golf course management and will be interning at Bent Creek Golf Course near Bishop Snyder High School.

KHHS's Channell swings big bat for Clemson

Excerpts from ClemsonTigersAthletics

ATHENS, Ga. - Former Keystone Heights High softball standout Kiley Channell, a junior infielder at Clemson University after transferring from Florida Atlantic University, just had the Tigers season come to a halt with a 5-0 NCAA region championship loss to No. 10 Georgia as the Tigers finished with a 34-22 season record.

Clemson got to the regions in Athens, Georgia after finishing as runner-up in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship tournament to North Carolina via a 4-2 loss on May 6.

At regions, Clemson lost their opener 1-0 to North Carolina-Greensboro, beat College of Charleston 3-1, beat UNC Greensboro 4-1 before being eliminated by Georgia on May 17.

As the Tigers shortstop, Channell finished with 55 starts in 55 games, held a .293 batting average with 10 doubles, one triple and two homers for 22 runs batted in. Channell also was four of five on stolen base attempts.

Against UNC Greensboro, Channell collected her school record 14th sacrifice bunt in the 4-1 win. Channell also hit an RBI single in the seventh inning for the final 4-1 score.

In the NCAA region opener against UNC Greensboro, a 1-0 loss, Channell hit two doubles; one in her opening at bat in the first inning, the second in the third inning but failed to score.

Clay's Ellis showcases strong arm for Michigan

Excerpts from MgoBlue.com

NORMAN, Okla. - Former Clay High standout pitcher Gabby Ellis, a junior pitcher at the University of Michigan after transferring from Mercer University, pitched eight innings and delivered five strikeouts, six hits and three walks in a tough Wolverines' 1-0 loss in the NCAA region opener to Kansas on May 15.

Michigan advanced through the tournament with Ellis getting two more wins, but the Wolverines lost, 8-1, to Oklahoma in the finals on on May 17.

"Going from Mercer to Michigan, the level of play is more intense and there's more of a championship mindset," said Ellis, via phone at University of Michigan after the Wolverines loss to Oklahoma. "You see and feel the traditions and history of the sports teams not only in the sports themselves, but also all-around campus. Sports get talked about around campus, in the classroom and you see the traditions everywhere."

Ellis' pitching counterpart at Kansas, Lila Partridge, went toe to toe with Ellis with an eerily similar six hits, three walks and three strikeouts in the tense outing.

For Kansas, the winning run came on a bases loaded single with one out in the eighth.

The Wolverines, 34-21, fell into the elimination bracket of the region tournament, but they defeated Binghamton 6-0 and Kansas 12-10 before falling to the second-ranked Sooners in the finals.

The two wins in the elimination rounds got Michigan into the region championship game. Oklahoma, 51-8, has been in the NCAA Final Four 19 times with eight national titles, the last one in 2024.

Ellis started against Oklahoma and gave up four runs on three hits in 1.2 innings to take the loss and finish her outstanding season at 15-8.

In the wins over Binghamton and Kansas, Ellis got the wins for both games. She had a two-hit shutout against Binghamton, and she got the win in relief against the Jayhawks,

Michigan finished at 36-21 with its third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and 29th in the last 30 seasons.

KHHS's Mitzel earns All Tournament selection at Edward Waters

Former Keystone Heights High pitcher Ty Mitzel, now a freshman relief specialist at Edward Waters University, was an integral part of a four-game win streak that saw the Tigers win their second Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Baseball Tournament title in the last three seasons while giving head coach Reginald Johnson his 400th career win.

Mitzel and four teammates - Andres Carracciolo, Luis Nunez, Bobby Torres and Jordan Smith - all were selected to the SIAC All-Tournament team.

Mitzel was given the win in the SIAC championship game, a 6-4 win over Spring Hill on May 4, with 4.2 innings in relief. He gave up two hits and just one run. Mitzel has six saves for the Tigers with a 2-0 as a starter.

Edward Waters, 33-21, earned a spot in the NCAA Div. II South Region Tournament, but lost to top-seed University of West Florida in its opener 16-6, and then lost 3-2 to fourth-seed Delta State to end the season.

Mitzel, with the score at 3-2, pitched in the ninth inning against Delta State with one strikeout and induced a double play ground ball to end the inning.

In their final at-bat, Edward Waters stranded two baserunners in the bottom of the ninth.

Oakleaf's Sanchez's grand slam highlighted Mercer's season

MACON, Ga. - Former Oakleaf High infielder Mariyah Sanchez, now a junior infielder at Mercer University, socked a grand slam on Feb. 8 in an 11-2 win against North Carolina A&T to be considered the highlight of her 2026 season. Mercer was 4-0 at the time and finished 20-30 for the season.

Sanchez had a .203 batting average with 18 starts in 34 games, with two doubles and seven runs batted in for the Bears. Sanchez was also three of five on stolen bases.

Fleming Island's Godfrey now with top-ranked San Diego Wave of NWSL

SAN DIEGO - Fleming Island High graduate Lia Godfrey, who played at the Clay County Soccer Complex, is now a rookie forward for the National Women's Soccer League's top-ranked San Diego Wave and creating her own storm with a recent four-goal performance in her first four games after just four months as a pro.

Godfrey, a University of Virginia standout that was a semifinalist choice for the 2025 Mac Hermann Trophy, equal to the football Heisman Trophy, had four goals in her first five shots on goal with two of the goals game winners.

Godfrey, 24, also got two assists in the barrage of points. San Diego is currently 7-4-1 with a 1-0 loss on May 24 to the Orlando Pride. The Wave returns to Orlando to play the Pride on Friday, Oct. 2.