The last FHSAA baseball championship won by a Brevard County team came in 2019, when Melbourne Central Catholic won its second under coach Tom Dooley, 6-3 over Cardinal Gibbons in eight innings for the Class 3A title.
Brevard public schools Eau Gallie played for a 5A title in 2022, and Viera reached the 7A final a year ago, but the last local public school title was by Rockledge in 2004, under coach Greg Clayborne. It is his bunch that would appear to have the best local squad this year as district championships begin Monday and teams work their way toward the state tournament in Ft. Myers beginning May 15.
The Raiders were the winningest team in the county, finishing 23-2, and they relied on a deep and effective pitching staff. That included seniors Clayton Cooksey and Bryce Turner, who will go on to college pitching careers next year, along with freshman Gabriel Norman, who allowed just four earned runs over 36 1/3 innings, struck out 74 and produced a 0.77 earned run average. As a staff, Rockledge struck out 274 batters, an average of 11 a game.
Find the district tournament schedules here.
Here is a team-by-team of districts with area teams and a glance at each of those teams:
District 8-6A baseball tournament
: 1. Viera; 2. Melbourne; 3. St. Cloud; 4. Heritage; 5. Sebastian River
Viera Hawks (12-11). The Hawks went 3-6 in April, but all the losses came against teams with 17 or more wins.
Statistical leaders: Brennan Confreda .323, 11 RBI, 7 doubles; 2.19 ERA, 35 K; Caden Jensen 2.23 ERA, 51 K; Dominic Leoni 11 RBI, 12 SB; Michael Schmidt 12 SB
Melbourne Bulldogs (13-12). Bulldogs split with some of Brevard's better teams: Merritt Island, Satellite and Eau Gallie.
Statistical leaders: Collin Gates .348, 16 RBI; Christian Dillard 22 RBI; Jackson Hall .309, 18 RBI; Wyatt Votava .308, 20 SB; Ty Keeley 2.68 ERA, 32 K
Heritage Panthers (16-8). The Panthers went 7-2 in April.
Statistical leaders: Joe Tenta .448, 18 RBI, 8 doubles; Jordan McCray .403, 26 RBI, 3 HR; Noriega Gonzalez 6-1, 30 K; Jeremy Fraieli 44 K, 2.72 ERA
District 13-5A baseball tournament
: 1. Rockledge; 2. Eau Gallie; 3. Port St. Lucie; 4. Bayside; 5. Ft. Pierce Westwood
Rockledge Raiders (23-2). The Raiders have won 10 in a row, going back to March 26, and they won the Cape Coast Conference title.
Statistical leaders: Jonathan Matos .519, 13 doubles, 6 HR, 26 RBI, 7 SB; Alex Tilton .423, 7 SB; J.J. Silberzahn .328, 23 RBI; Micah Cheatham .347, 11 RBI; Gabriel Norman 6-0, 0.77 ERA, 75 K; Clayton Cooksey 6-1, 1.34 ERA, 61 K; Bryce Turner 3-0, 4 saves, 42 K, 0.75 ERA; Joey Dupree 2-1, 1.94 ERA, 39 K
Eau Gallie (13-11). The Commodores closed the regular season on a six-game losing streak, but they have wins over Melbourne and Viera and are the only local team to beat Rockledge this year.
Statistical leaders: Xavier Lherisse .309, 9 RBI, 13 SB; Vincent Breckenridge 10 SB; Carson Lietz 53 K; Chase McBrearty 41 K.
Bayside Bears (9-13). Bayside won five of its last seven games, and both losses came in one-run games.
Statistical leaders: Ryan Folstein .400; Carlos Santiago 14 RBI; Michael Reyna 8 SB; Elvin Pascaul 0.78 ERA; 61 K
District 8-4A baseball tournament
: 1. Merritt Island; 2. Satellite; 3. Astronaut; 4. Titusville; 5. Palm Bay
Merritt Island (19-5). The Mustangs are ranked eighth in Class 4A according to power ratings.
Statistical leaders: n/a
Satellite Scorpions (14-7). Pitcher Jonathan Wolaver struck out 19 in a no-hitter against Cocoa Beach on April 18.
Statistical leaders: Brandon Reiter .471, 14 RBI; Wolaver .344, 13 RBI, 5-1, 1.17 ERA; 85 K; Asher Allen, 13 RBI, 0.59 ERA, 2 saves, 51 K
Astronaut (8-13): After an 0-5 start, the War Eagles won six of their next 10.
Statistical leaders: Holden Quinn .472, 13 SB; Kyle Young .370; Austin McCheskey 2.43 ERA, 26 K
Titusville Terriers (6-19). The Terriers averaged 11 runs in their wins this season.
Statistical leaders: Jacob Bercaw .588; Nathan Mackiewicz .389
Palm Bay Pirates (9-16). Seven Pirates stole at least 10 bases this season.
Statistical leaders: Luis Lopez .395, 22 RBI, 11 SB; Nolan Werle 16 SB; Arnie Munoz 15 SB; 44 K; Hunter Ashbaugh 12 SB, 45 K
District 10-3A baseball tournament
: 1. MCC; 2. Holy Trinity; 3. Cocoa Beach; 4. Cocoa; 5. Space Coast
MCC Hustlers (1708). The Hustlers won eight of their last 10, including consecutive wins against Satellite, Heritage and Eau Gallie.
Statistical leaders: Ryder Widick, .478, 10 RBI; Thomas Chiuchiolo, .377, 26 RBI; 2.97 ERA, 5-1, 36 K; Christian Maynard, .339, 21 RBI; Caden Simcox, 4-4, 29 Ks, 12 SB.
Holy Trinity (17-5). The Tigers, who won their all eight April games, got the program's first no-hitters this season, one each from Devon Jackameit and Canon Hopper.
Statistical leaders: Brody Delboccio .542, 25 RBI, 18 SB; Roman Carlson .461, 22 RBI, 15 SB; Kayden Jaquez .438, 33 RBI, 8 doubles, 20 SB; Jackameit .433, 24 RBI, 9 doubles, 3-1, 2.55 ERA; Ethan Nunes .455, 15 RBI; Braedon Kite 15 SB; Hopper 6-1, 0.91 ERA, 79 K
Cocoa Beach (9-12): The Minutemen are the defending district tournament champions.
Statistical leaders: Joey Amunategui .486, 28 RBI, 17 doubles; Preston Houvouras .453, 18 RBI; Liam Hastings .384, 17 SB; Kristian Wolfe 1.50 ERA, 32 K
District 13-2A baseball tournament
: 1. John Carroll; 2. Vero Beach Master's; 3. Merritt Island Christian; 4. Brevard Heat; 5. St. Edward's
Merritt Island Christian (10-9). The Cougars won four of their last seven games.
Statistical leaders: Anthony Alessandrini .429, 13 RBI, 10 SB; Bode Handwork .308, 8 SB; Jayvon Morris 2.39 ERA, 90 K, 9 SB
Brevard Heat (5-19). Three of the team's wins came in the final six games.
Statistical leaders: Enrique Cortes .306, 12 RBI; Lazaro Rodriguez 15 RBI; Luke Trew 15 SB; Gabriel Rodriguez 44 K
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