GAINESVILLE – The Florida high school baseball season has officially come to an end and there was a combination of repeat winners, first-time winners and nationally-ranked finishers.
A total of eight FHSAA state champions were crowned in Fort Myers and they each finished No. 1 in theprepzone.com state baseball poll final rankings.
Miami Columbus finished as the top overall team regardless of classification. The Explorers (27-5) won the Class 8A state title with a 10-1 win against Orange City University. They entered the postseason ranked No. 6 in the state rankings but finished on top of the 8A rankings.
It was the second baseball title in school history for Columbus. The Explorers knocked off three ranked teams in the playoffs, including a 5-4 win against nationally-ranked Park Vista in the state semifinals, and they also finished in the MaxPreps Top 50 national rankings.
Oviedo finished first in Class 7A following a 9-5 win against unranked Sarasota in the championship game. The Lions (25-5) finished sixth in the all-classification rankings after winning their first state baseball title in school history. They are one of eight teams from Florida in the national rankings.
Venice (29-3) won its third state title in the past four years, and their fourth in the last nine seasons, to finish No. 1 in Class 6A. The Indians, who are also nationally-ranked, defeated previously unranked St. Johns Bartram Trail in the championship game, but they defeated defending state champion Hialeah Gardens Mater Academy, 3-2 in 11 innings, in the state semifinals.
Class 5A state champion Southwest Ranches Archbishop McCarthy was a district runner-up. However, the Mavericks (27-5) knocked off district champion Plantation American Heritage in the regional semifinals and had a dramatic win the state semifinals en route to their fifth state title in six years.
They trailed Tampa Robinson by two runs entering the bottom of the 7th in the semifinals, but the Mavericks scored three runs in their final at-bat to win, 8-7. In the final, they knocked off nationally-ranked Lynn Haven Mosley, 3-0, and moved up in the national rankings.
Another first-time winner was Jacksonville Trinity Christian. The Conquerors (24-8) also had three wins against ranked teams during the postseason, including a 6-4 win against No. 2 Fort Myers Bishop Verot in the 4A title game.
Defending 3A state champion Tallahassee North Florida Christian lost to Miami Westminster Christian in the 3A title game, 7-2. The Warriors (24-7) matched Key West with their state record-tying 11th state title.
The only repeat winners were in the smallest classifications.
Brito Miami Private (19-11) outscored their two opponents, 19-1, at the state tournament to win Class 2A again, and Class 1A Williston (28-2) became the first team in FHSAA Baseball Finals history to pitch shutouts in both the state semifinals and championship game two years in a row.
THEPREPZONE.COM STATE BASEBALL POLL – FINAL RANKINGS
ALL-CLASSIFICATIONS
1. Miami Columbus (8A) 27-5
2. Southwest Ranches Archbishop McCarthy (5A) 27-5
3. Venice (6A) 29-3
4. Lake Worth Park Vista (8A) 28-3
5. Lynn Haven Mosley (5A) 28-4
6. Oviedo (7A) 25-5
7. Pembroke Pines Flanagan (8A) 21-6
8. Plantation American Heritage (5A) 20-8
9. Rockledge (5A) 25-3
10. Miami Westminster Christian (3A) 24-7
CLASS 8A
1. Miami Columbus 27-5
2. Lake Worth Park Vista 28-3
3. Pembroke Pines Flanagan 21-6
4. Orange City University 18-14
5. Orlando Olympia 27-2
6. Orlando Timber Creek 19-11
7. Parkland Stoneman Douglas 23-5
8. Boca Raton 23-3
9. Homestead South Dade 19-7
10. Sarasota Riverview 15-15
Honorable mention: Tampa Alonso 22-7; Oviedo Hagerty 19-8, Miami Palmetto 15-10; Orlando Boone 19-9; Apopka 22-7; Coral Springs Taravella 16-10; West Broward 15-11
CLASS 7A
1. Oviedo 25-5
2. Sarasota 20-12
3. Plant City Durant 23-7
4. Kissimmee Osceola 25-4
5. Naples Gulf Coast 21-8
6. Tallahassee Chiles 19-10
7. Haines City 22-6
8. Royal Palm Beach 19-13
9. Coconut Creek Monarch 21-4
10. St. Thomas Aquinas 22-5
Honorable mention: Gainesville Buchholz 20-8; Navarre 20-7; Winter Springs 21-6; Lutz Steinbrenner 21-7; Bradenton Lakewood Ranch 18-11; St. Petersburg Northeast 19-9; Orange Park Fleming Island 17-10
CLASS 6A
1. Venice 29-3
2. Hialeah Gardens Mater Academy 18-10
3. St. Johns Bartram Trail 24-7
4. Winter Haven 24-4
5. Miami Goleman 21-4
6. Ocala Forest 23-8
7. St. Johns Creekside 21-5
8. Jensen Beach 21-6
9. Pembroke Pines Charter 18-5
10. Miami Doral Academy 20-8
Honorable mention: Estero 19-10; New Port Richey Mitchell 19-10; Deltona 19-11; Tampa Hillsborough 18-10; Tampa Leto 18-9; Port St. Lucie 17-7; Naples Barron Collier 19-8; Seminole Osceola 19-9; Pace 18-9; Lake Wales 21-8; Port Charlotte 17-11; Orlando Edgewater 17-8; Miami TERRA Institute 19-6.
CLASS 5A
1. Southwest Ranches Archbishop McCarthy 27-5
2. Lynn Haven Mosley 28-4
3. Plantation American Heritage 20-8
4. Rockledge 25-3
5. Tampa Jesuit 19-9
6. Merritt Island 20-8
7. Tampa Robinson 17-11
8. Inverness Citrus 17-10
9. Dunedin 24-7
10. Sebring 19-10
Honorable mention: Cape Coral 18-10; Wesley Chapel 21-8; New Port Richey River Ridge 18-8; Eustis 18-8; Live Oak Suwannee 17-8; Brooksville Central 18-11; Crawfordville Wakulla 16-9; Umatilla 14-8; Glen St. Mary Baker County 17-12; Panama City Bay 17-13.
CLASS 4A
1. Jacksonville Trinity Christian 24-8
2. Fort Myers Bishop Verot 24-7
3. Miami Gulliver Prep 23-7
4. Fort Lauderdale Calvary Christian Academy 23-7
5. Bushnell South Sumter 20-7
6. Delray Beach American Heritage 22-7
7. Pensacola Catholic 19-9
8. Pensacola West Florida 18-8
9. Orlando Bishop Moore 19-9
10. Tampa Catholic 17-12
Honorable mention: Jacksonville Bolles 19-10; Keystone Heights 20-9; Key West 18-9; Pembroke Pines Somerset Academy 19-11; Avon Park 18-9; Fort Pierce Lincoln Park 15-11.
CLASS 3A
1. Miami Westminster Christian 24-7
2. Tallahassee North Florida Christian 21-10
3. Spring Hill Bishop McLaughlin 26-4
4. Fort Myers Canterbury 23-4
5. Jacksonville Providence 19-10
6. Largo Indian Rocks Christian 24-6
7. West Palm Beach Benjamin 22-7
8. Miami Palmer Trinity 22-5
9. Winter Garden Windermere Prep 18-5
10. Maitland Orangewood Christian 15-14
Honorable mention: Lakeland Santa Fe Catholic 20-8; Sarasota Out-of-Door Academy 20-4; St. Augustine St. Joseph 16-5; Lake Worth Trinity Christian 21-7; Jacksonville University Christian 18-8; Miami SLAM Academy 21-7; Clearwater Calvary Christian 21-8; Fort Myers Evangelical Christian 19-10; Sarasota Cardinal Mooney 21-7
CLASS 2A
1. Brito Miami Private 19-11
2. Tampa Bayshore Christian 15-5
3. Vero Beach Master’s Academy 18-11
4. Deltona Trinity Christian 20-9
5. Sarasota Christian 17-6
6. Lecanto Seven Rivers Christian 13-12
7. Boca Raton Christian 16-14
8. Belle Glade Glades Day 20-4
9. St. Petersburg Keswick Christian 16-7
10. Naples Seacrest Country Day 15-10
Honorable mention: Jacksonville Christ’s Church 15-7; Ocala St. John Lutheran 18-10; Quincy Munroe 17-11; Orlando Christian Prep 12-12; Kissimmee City of Life Christian 13-8
CLASS 1A
1. Williston 28-2
2. Blountstown 22-9
3. Bratt Northview 19-3
4. Jasper Hamilton County 17-12
5. Mayo Lafayette 22-5
6. Panama City Bozeman 24-4
7. Chiefland 17-7
8. Paxton 17-5
9. Milton Central 17-7
10. Pierson Taylor 16-7
Honorable mention: Graceville 14-9; Chipley 15-12; Hilliard 17-8
