BASEBALL

Slow start spoils St. Johns Country Day's baseball final in loss to Lakeland Christian

Florida Times-Union

The Spartans' wait goes on.

A nightmare first inning derailed St. Johns Country Day in Saturday's Florida High School Athletic Association Class 2A baseball championship, losing 5-2 to Lakeland Christian at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers.

The Spartans (26-5) mounted a rally in the seventh, loading the bases and bringing home one run on Kody Daneault's sacrifice fly. But with the tying run at the plate, the Vikings' Wyatt Jenkins forced Kyle Boylston into a foul pop-up to end the game.

Lakeland Christian jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the first inning off an error, two walks and three hits, including Jenkins' two-RBI single, against starting pitcher Daneault.

But the Spartans settled down after the third-inning arrival relief ace Trevor Bradley, who entered without allowing an earned run all year and limited the Vikings to one hit the rest of the way.

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Largely contained by Vikings starter Carson Martin (5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K), St. Johns began to chip away late, including an RBI single by Daneault in the fifth. But the Spartans missed opportunities after suffering outs on the basepaths in both the fifth and sixth.

The Spartans started the seventh with three of their first four reaching base -- Isaiah Mamea's single, Kellen Brown's walk and Hunter Rodgers' hit-by-pitch -- before Jenkins extinguished the fire.

For the Spartans, the loss was a double dose of 2023 heartbreak for 2023 against Lakeland Christian (25-5). The same school ended St. Johns Country Day's 11-year championship streak in girls soccer in February.

The Clay County school also fell short in the 2021 baseball final to Sarasota Out-of-Door.