Baseball districts: Providence, Ridgeview, Trinity, St. Johns Country Day win tournaments

To hold at third or sprint for home? Mason Wortmann knew he had only a split second to decide.

"I took a chance and it worked out for me," he said. "This team needed this."

Breaking for the plate and scoring the district-winning run on a wild pitch to cap a masterpiece sixth inning on the basepaths, Wortmann sparked Providence's come-from-behind 3-2 win over Fernandina Beach in the Florida High School Athletic Association District 3-3A baseball final.

Tied 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Wortmann beat out an infield hit. Then, when Brooks Hicken laid down a sacrifice bunt, he spotted third base uncovered and sprinted from first to third. Two batters later, a pitch from Pirates reliever Cooper Ryan squirted away, and Wortmann dashed home for the go-ahead run.

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Kyle Powers earned the win in relief as Providence (22-4) snapped the 19-game winning streak of Fernandina Beach (21-4). RBI singles by Sean Benjamin and Quinten Dye had staked Fernandina Beach to a two-run first-inning lead.

Ranked fifth in Florida, Providence is expected to enter next week's FHSAA regionals with the No. 1 overall seed and an eight-game winning streak.

"This team needed to get hot," Wortmann said, "and now that we're hot, I don't think anyone can stop us."

DISTRICT 1-7A

Tristen Miller limited Creekside to three hits and Flagler Palm Coast (16-12) exploited four errors for an unexpected district title with a 9-0 shutout.

Caysen Nobles, Connor May and Dalton Schell all doubled for FPC, which had to win the tournament to qualify for regionals. Will Bucey doubled for Creekside (18-8).

DISTRICT 3-6A

Top-seeded Gainesville Buchholz had too much offense for Fleming Island (17-7), piling up six third-inning runs in a 9-0 shutout.

The Bobcats' (19-6) Austin Cardozo and Conner Brown combined on a one-hitter, while JJ Gardner doubled with three RBI.

DISTRICT 2-5A

Camdon Frier and Hayden Gustavson combined for five hits and seven RBI to lead Columbia to a 9-0 district romp over Tallahassee Lincoln (16-9).

Frier homered and doubled, Gustavson tripled and Joshua Fernald combined with Philip Maddox on a two-hitter for the 2022 regional champion Tigers (21-5).

DISTRICT 3-5A

Billy Girgis starred with his bat and his pitching arm, going 3 for 3 and throwing a four-hitter to lead Ridgeview past top-seeded Clay (21-6).

Catcher Clayton Gulbrand also went 4 for 4 for the Panthers (19-6), who scored four in the fourth and three in the sixth to banish any bubble worries.

DISTRICT 4-5A

With 5 1/3 innings of hitless baseball and 11 strikeouts, Matt Hoag led Ponte Vedra to a 10-0 mercy-rule shutout of Englewood (12-13).

Cade Eidam led with three hits, including a two-RBI triple, and Jack Ottesen drove in three RBI on a pair of hits for the Sharks (15-12).

DISTRICT 2-4A

Titus Richardson went 3 for 4 with a double and Baker County held off a seventh-inning rally in a 7-6 win over Wakulla (16-11).

Sophomore Jack Brown drove in two runs for the Wildcats (20-6).

DISTRICT 3-4A

Michael Saunders and Garrett Corbett both doubled, Troy Ancayan added two RBI and Bishop Kenny piled up six runs in the fourth, winning 6-3 over Yulee (15-11).

University of North Florida signee Jack Newman worked five scoreless innings to lead BK (15-10) to the district crown.

DISTRICT 4-4A

Second-year program Tocoi Creek completed its run to a milestone district title with a 6-3 upset at No. 1 seed Alachua Santa Fe (18-9).

Enrique Castillo earned the win with 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief for the Toros (15-11), and Brody Eisenhuth doubled with three RBI.

DISTRICT 2-3A

Ethan Wheeler struck out 11 and state contender Trinity Christian pulled away late for a 5-1 win against visiting West Nassau (10-17).

Logan Dantzler, Brady Harris, Maddox Lee and Jacob Miller all doubled for the Conquerors (22-4).

DISTRICT 2-2A

Shawn Andrade and Kody Daneault both went deep as the St. Johns Country Day home run derby rolled on, winning 8-1 over St. Joseph (15-10).

Jacob Thomas earned the win as the Spartans (22-4) allowed only two hits. Kyle Boylston also doubled twice for St. Johns.

DISTRICT 3-2A

Homers by Caden Worbington and Brady Wright helped University Christian break away early in a 10-3 win against Eagle's View (14-9).

Noah Clark, Camden Harnage, Alonzo Monts and senior Mason McLeod all doubled for UC (14-10), which put the game away with six second-inning runs.

DISTRICT 6-1A

Hyatt Richardson slammed the door with six scoreless relief innings as a flood of runs slowed to a trickle in Mayo Lafayette's 9-8 win against Union County (17-8).

The teams combined for 17 runs in the first two and a half innings but came up empty the rest of the way. Dawson Mock and Matthew Jenkins homered for the Hornets (19-4).

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: High school baseball 2023: Northeast Florida district tournament wrap