6A Road To The Final Four: McCarthy, Rockledge Favorites Again

6A Road To The Final Four Schedule & Results

The 6A playoffs have two teams as the favorites that have grown familiar with each other over the past several years. Archbishop McCarthy has won five of the past six state titles in their classification. The one playoff loss they have across that six year run is to Rockledge. Last year, the teams were favored to meet again in the regional finals, but Rockledge was upset earlier in the playoffs, and the Mavericks went on to win it all. Not much has changed in a year, as the two programs are again heavy favorites to face off in the regional final, but there are several teams that look to stand in their way.

Region Two

District Eight

Any discussion of District 8 has to start with Tampa Jesuit. The Tigers have been one of the mainstays in the state playoffs over the past decade, and this year does not figure to be much different. Jesuit went a perfect 10-0 in 6A-8 play, and has compiled a 20-5 overall record.

Pitching has been the strength of Jesuit, rolling to the tune of a 1.39 ERA over nearly 100 innings. The offense has been equally impressive, hitting at a .334 clip.

Robinso, who went to the state semifinals last year, is back for another run in 2016. The Knights finished second in the district at 8-2, and will await the winner of the Jefferson-Spoto quarterfinal match-up. Matthew Steckel led Robinson with an ERA of 1.62.

Jefferson will pin their hopes on Robby Martin, who hit .417, and a pitching staff led by Michael Lazo and Matt Gaffney, both with ERA’s under two.

Region Three

District Nine

The 6A-9 playoffs will feature four teams in which none has a winning record. Dunedin is the clear favorite, having gone 6-0 in district play. Alex Sexton is second in the district in hitting at .354. The Falcons have also received some power from Colton Widdows, who has three home runs on the season. Widdows is also the ace for Dunedin, leading the district with 37 strikeouts, and compiling an ERA just over two.

Dunedin will face off with Largo in the district semis. The Packers are 6-18 on the year, but have hopes of upsetting the districts top seed and moving on to regionals. Largo did play the Falcons tough both times they faced off in 2016, losing only by a combined margin of 8-3.

In the other semifinal, Boca Ciega will host Tarpon Springs. The Pirates have reason for optimism despite their 8-14 record. The teams advancing from 6A-9 will face either Auburndale, Lake Wales, Poinciana, or Sebring.

District Eleven

If there is any district in the state where fireworks could happen in the playoffs, it is right here. The six teams in the 6A-11 playoffs have taken turns beating up on each other in district play, exemplified by Ida Baker being the top seed with three district losses. The Bulldogs edged Mariner for the top spot, with the Tritons finishing with an 8-4 record, to Ida’s 9-3.

Those two teams will have to wait before they know who their semifinals opponent will be. In the quarterfinals, Island Coast and Port Charlotte will battle to advance to face the Bulldogs. In the other quarterfinal, it will be Cape Coral and Cypress Lake playing for the right to face Mariner.

Only one game in the standings seperated the three through six seeds, setting the playoffs up for a wild run.

Island Coast has the top hitter in the county in Anthony Churlin (.460). Cypress Lake’s Austin Hayman is one of the top pitchers in the county with 46 strikeouts, and Port Charlotte’s Matt Lepoint brings an ERA under one into the playoffs. Cape Coral has the top stolen base threat in Felix Camacho.

That type of balance makes district week impossible to predict in 6A-11.

The teams that make it out will face teams from 6A-12.

District Twelve

Speaking of 6A-12, Barron Collier has had little trouble rolling through their district undefeated. The Cougars have won their three district games by a combined 25-4 mark. That margin of victory nearly guarantees a sopt on the regional playoffs for Barron Collier. They will face Golden Gate in the semifinals, a team they beat 14-3 in the teams’ only match-up this season.

Marc Coffers is the leading hitter for the Cougars, with an average over .450, and three home runs on the year. On the mound, the Cougars are led by the trio of Logan Langham, John D’Amelio, and Aaron Makara. Nick Geller has been the top strikeout pitcher for the Cougars, with 35.

In the other semifinal, Lely, a team that was supposed to be rebuilding this season, finds itself in the position of possibly making a deep playoff run. The Trojans open up against Immokalee, and should they win, they will be playing in the championship game with the hopes of avoiding Ida Baker in the regional quarterfinals.

Immokalee has played the Trojans tough in their first meeting this year, and is hoping to pull the upset and advance to regional play.

Region Four

District 14

Stuck into between District 13, where Rocklegde and Merritt Island reside, and District 15, where Archbishop McCarthy and American heritage lurk, is District 14. This three team district will be decided on the first day of district play. Suncoast and Fort Pierce Westwood will square off in a semifinal game in which the winner will advance to regional play.

The top seed in the district, Port St. Lucie, hasd already punched their ticket to regionals by going 2-0 in regular season district play.

The Jaguars are led on the mound by ace Zach Taglieri, who will first get a chamce to win a district title for St. Lucie, and then be saddled with the task of opening up regionals on the mound. Troy Martinez has been a dual threat for the Jaguars, hitting .424, and carrying a 1.02 ERA on the mound.

Suncoast will pin their regional hopes on Tyler Lavery. The Chargers ace had 34 strikeouts and a 1,56 ERA in 2016. Jack Virden was the teams top offensive weapon with a .466 average and 18 RBIs.

For Fort Pierce to pull the upset over Suncoast, Vondravius Sands (.404) will have to have a big game in the opening round.

District 15

It is rare in Florida that two of the best teams in a given classification continually have to do battle within their own district. That is the case here, where the top team in Florida, Archbishop McCarthy, and a Top-20 team in American Heritage are likely to again battle for the right to advance.

The two teams have provided some of the most intense games of the past five years, and this year should be no different. McCarthy will have to handle Coconut Creek and Heritage will face a feisty Hallandale team in the semis.

The district championship game, should both Heritage and McCarthy advance, could be just a tune-up, as the two could meet two weeks later in the regional semifinals.

McCarthy comes into districts having lost just one game on the field this season, an HSBN Game of the Week tilt with Flanagan last week. The Mavericks have one of the top offenses in the state, with power and speed at the top in Kobe Lopez and Alex Carballo, and a powerful middle of the order in Alex Toral and Joe Perez.

The lineup does not stop there. Adan Fernandez and Ubaldo Lopez provide even more pop for the Mavericks.

On the mound, Archbishop is not as deep as it has been in past years, but they showed last year that experience in the playoffs can be a deciding factor over all else.

For Heritage, they have been a team that has been overlooked since losing to McCarthy early in the year, but they have quietly put up a 15-4 record of their own. The Patriots believed after their McCarthy game that they could play with the Mavericks if not for a few mistakes early in that game. They will have their chance for redemption if they can survive an upset bid by Hallandale.

Tristan Casas is hitting .500, and has the team lead with 25 runs. Travis Holt, Anthony Boix, Alfonso Guillen, and Gary Mattis have all hit above or around .400 for Heritage.

If Hallandale is going to think upset, they will need a big performance from their workhorse, Chris Lugo. With the ability to rack up strikeouts, the Chargers are hoping Lugo can keep them close enough to steal a game from the Patriots.

The two teams advancing out of 6A-15 will face the regional participants from 9A-16.

District 16

The only thing that looks guaranteed at this point in the 6A-16 playoffs is Goleman is a heavy favorite. The Gators went through the season 22-2, and were a perfect 12-0 in district play. They will open their playoff run against fourth-seeded Miami Jackson, a much improved team in 2016.

In the other semifinal, Third-seeded Mourning will face second-seeded Miami Springs. During the regular season, the Hawks beat Mourning twice.

Goleman brings plenty of experience and one of the districts top hitters, Brandan Paez into the playoffs. Thomas Hernandez has also been a big bat for Goleman, hitting over .500, and driving in 22 runs. Mario Morales, Mario Lopez, and Michael Avendano have all been strong on the mound for the Gators.

Miami Springs has one of the top pitchers in the county in Dylan Carter. His 1.10 ERA and 80 strikeouts are both among the county leaders, as are his eight wins.

Mourning will counter Carter with Marcel Guardarrama, who tallied 78 strikeouts.

If Jackson is looking to upset Goleman it will be with Yordy Cabrera and his 1.87 ERA and 75 strikeouts. With several top pitchers set to go in the playoffs, low scoring, tight affairs are expected.

***Editor’s Note: All stats used in this article were from the time of publication. They may have changed slightly since then.

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