East River among 8 Orlando area baseball teams left in FHSAA regionals
It took extra innings for East River to turn in the biggest upset of the Florida High School Athletic Association baseball regional quarterfinals.
Junior shortstop Ty Kennedy drove in the game-winning run on a single to left-centerfield in the top of the 11th inning Tuesday to give the Falcons a 3-2 win at No. 1 seed Land O’ Lakes (21-6) in Class 6A Region 2.
Land O’ Lakes, a region finalist last year, tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh. The Falcons held off another late rally while stalling base runners on both corners.
“It was probably one of the better high school games I’ve been a part of,” East River coach Jerry Kennedy said. “It was one for the ages.”
Ty Kennedy, an Oklahoma State commit who notched his 100th career hit during the final week of the regular season, went 3-for-6 with 2 RBI.
Senior Houston Hosford added 2 hits and junior Jace Gelinas had an RBI in the win. Michael Senay tallied 8 strikeouts with 4 hits and no walks allowed in 6 innings pitched.
East River (16-11) plays at Viera (15-11) in a regional rematch from two years ago.
“They’re loose,” Jerry Kennedy said of his team. “We’re going to see if we can keep this train rolling.”
Admission to regional games is $9. Tickets are available for purchase at the GoFan app.
East River is one of eight Orlando area teams playing in semifinal games this weekend.
The season ended in the quarterfinals for 12 other local teams, including Bishop Moore, Deltona, Montverde Academy, Pine Ridge and Umatilla.
Timber Creek, Windermere High and The First Academy are home against out-of-area opponents.
Winners advance to championship rounds Monday and Tuesday. Check SentinelVarsity.com this weekend for results and matchups.
Semifinal games are scheduled for Friday unless otherwise noted.
Class 7A Region 1
No. 4 Port Orange Spruce Creek (19-9) at No. 1 Timber Creek (22-6), 7
No. 3 Lake Mary (20-7) at No. 2 St. Johns Creekside (18-12), 7
Buzz: Connor Mulready struck out 9 batters in 7 innings and Michael Thomas went 3-for-3 for Timber Creek in a 1-0 quarterfinal win vs. Flagler Palm Coast (14-13). Spruce Creek, the reigning region champ, needed eight innings for a 7-6 win vs. Bartram Trail (16-12). The Wolves, who are batting .313 as a team, lost 2-0 at Spruce Creek on April 5. Lake Mary outlasted rival Lake Brantley (18-10) for a 5-4 win to set up its first-ever meeting with Creekside, which won 3-2 vs. Winter Park (13-13).
Class 7A Region 2
No. 5 Lithia Newsome (21-6) at No. 1 Venice (25-3), 7:30
No. 6 Palm Harbor University (17-8) at No. 2 Windermere High (25-3), 4:30
Buzz: Windermere is one win away from returning to the regional finals for the third consecutive season. The Wolverines prevailed 6-1 vs. Olympia (17-11) on as Cannon Feazell went the distance and struck out 7 batters with 3 hits allowed. University scored 6 runs in the top of the 9th for a 6-0 upset win over Plant City Durant (21-5). Newsome, which won 2-1 vs. 2023 state runners-up Tampa Plant (19-8), gets a Venice team that owns a team earned run average of 1.19 this season.
Class 7A Region 3
No. 4 Harmony (17-11) at No. 1 Jupiter (21-7), 6:30
No. 6 Wellington (14-14) at No. 2 Vero Beach (22-4), 7
Buzz: Harmony held off visiting Treasure Coast (16-8) for a 4-3 win to set up a rematch with regional finalist Jupiter, which prevailed 3-2 in last year’s quarterfinals. Senior Iziah Santiago is batting .338 (25-for-74) with 26 RBI and 7 extra-base hits for the Longhorns. Jupiter is batting .320 as a team. Wellington pulled a 4-1 upset of reigning regional champion Lake Worth Park Vista (16-12). The Wolverines face a Vero Beach team that has allowed only 54 runs.
Class 6A Region 1
No. 4 Pace (20-6) at No. 1 Gainesville Buchholz (21-8), 6:30
No. 3 Hagerty (19-8) at No. 2 Tallahassee Chiles (19-8), Saturday, 4
Buzz: Brayden Toro struck out 10 batters and went 1-for-2 at the plate with an RBI for Hagerty during a 5-0 win vs. Orange Park Oakleaf (17-10). Stephen Chucka also had a 2-RBI hit for the Huskies, who face Chiles for the first time. The Timberwolves have connected for 49 extra-base hits this spring. Buchholz, a regional finalist last year, has four players batting better than .300 and 22 home runs as a team. Pace has won 18 of its past 19 games.
Class 6A Region 2
No. 8 East River (16-11) at No. 5 Viera (15-11), 7
No. 7 Lakeland (17-10) at No. 3 Lakeland George Jenkins (18-8), 7:30
Buzz: East River is 0-3 vs. Viera, including a 5-1 playoff loss in 2022. Junior Jace Gelinas, who has 43 strikeouts in 29 ⅔ innings, is one of three pitchers likely available for the Falcons. State runner-up Viera advanced with a 4-2 win at Lake Minneola (21-6), which defeated East River on a walk-off home run in the district semis. Lakeland won 9-8 at No. 2 seed Wiregrass Ranch (13-7) and George Jenkins won 7-2 vs. Ocala Forest (17-9). George Jenkins has won six of the past seven meetings vs. Lakeland since 2021.
Class 2A Region 2
No. 4 Mount Dora Christian (20-8) at No. 1 Lakeland Christian (22-4), Saturday, 7
No. 3 Lakeland Santa Fe Catholic (22-5) at No. 2 The First Academy (22-6), Saturday, 7
Buzz: Defending state champion Lakeland Christian won 5-0 vs. Orangewood Christian (14-14) and Mount Dora Christian won 8-0 vs. Foundation Academy (25-5) in quarterfinals. Senior-heavy lineup for Mount Dora Christian includes Cael Reish, who is batting .366 (37-for-101) with 8 doubles. Lakeland Christian is batting .352 with 66 extra-base hits. TFA is batting .328 with 68 extra-base hits. Santa Fe won 11-2 vs. The Master’s Academy (17-10).
This article originally appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email J.C. Carnahan at jcarnahan@orlandosentinel.com.
