First Coast Varsity Weekly: Aidan King 'really, really special' in 20-strikeout baseball
Bishop Snyder coach Zach Osbeck was watching Aidan King's strikeout count soar toward the stratosphere, and he couldn't quite believe his eyes.
"I've never been part of a game like that," he said.
With a 20-strikeout night against Providence in Wednesday's Florida High School Athletic Association Region 1-3A baseball playoff, King wrote a new chapter in the history books on the Jacksonville diamond.
Signed with Florida, King not only tallied 20 punch-outs while remaining inside the FHSAA's pitch count, but doubled, homered and pitched a one-hit shutout in Bishop Snyder's 3-0 victory.
At the start of the night, Osbeck said he wasn't sure how much sharpness King had following pregame warmups. But he struck out the side in the first inning against a Providence lineup with three college signees and potentially more to come.
"I'm thinking then, 'OK, maybe he's got pretty good stuff today,'" Osbeck said. "He just kept getting better as the night went on."
King isn't the first local to strike out 20 in a postseason game. Although records are incomplete for some years, pitcher Adams Ropp of Bolles did achieve the feat in a district tournament in 1988, recording 20 strikeouts against Baldwin in an 11-3 victory.
The highlight night for King was just part of a roller-coaster week for the Cardinals, who traveled to state No. 1 Pensacola Catholic on Saturday and won a 6-5, 10-inning thriller with numerous twists and turns. Sophomore Cody Boshell limited Pensacola Catholic to one hit over six innings before a back-and-forth battle of the bullpens.
Bishop Snyder even had additional cause for celebration during the week on the track. Kalia Bing won the Region 1-1A girls long jump while recording the fifth-longest leap (19 feet, 6 3/4 inches) in the state's MileSplit database for freshman athletes.
With 138 strikeouts and only seven walks entering the week, King is a near-lock to become Northeast Florida's first pitcher to top the state's MaxPreps strikeout list since Clay's Conner Solomon struck out 139 batters in 2018.
"It was a really, really special night," Osbeck said.
Nease's Kypriss selected for FHSAA hall
After a tennis journey spanning nearly half a century, Nease's Michael Kypriss is heading for the FHSAA Hall.
The Nease head tennis coach was named among the inductees for the FHSAA Hall of Fame in the Class of 2024. Induction will take place in September.
Kypriss has won 17 FHSAA state championships in the sport, 11 in girls tennis and six in boys tennis, and his teams have more than 1,300 career victories throughout a coaching career at Miami Killian, Dr. Krop and Nease.
He has also entered the Florida Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame within the past five years.
Also recognized with local ties is former Palatka track and field coach Ken Brauman, eight-time FHSAA track and field champion during a coaching career going back to 1972. He directed Palatka to state titles in 1980 and 1981 before moving to Sanford Seminole, where he is currently in his 41st season.
FHSAA inductees also include Darryl Burrows, former boys basketball coach and seven-time champion at Fort Lauderdale Dillard; Kendall Ellis, seven-time FHSAA girls track champion; Stephanie Gibson, six-time FHSAA champion volleyball head coach at Winter Park and Miami Sunset; Miriam Jenkins, Florida's first female wrestler to win a state tournament match while competing for Gainesville in 1999; and Miami-Dade County basketball official Freddie Williams Jr.
Circle Thursday for spring football
It's almost that time.
Spring football games officially kick off Thursday across Northeast Florida, the beginning of a nine-night blitz of gridiron action that stretches until May 24.
Three jamborees highlight Thursday's kickoff. Beachside welcomes Episcopal and Wolfson to St. Johns County, Suwannee plays host to Bradford and Gainesville Buchholz and 11-man newcomer Old Plank Christian travels to Lecanto to meet Faith Christian, Mount Dora Christian and host Seven Rivers Christian.
Trinity Christian faces Fletcher in the first game for each team since the graduation of Super 11 quarterbacks Colin Hurley and Marcelis Tate, and Union County meets University Christian in a battle of UCs.
Friday's set of games includes a Columbia County clash between Columbia and Fort White, Englewood's game against Tocoi Creek and former Rams coach Zach Harbison, and Bartram Trail's trip to perennial regional contender Sanford Seminole.
The following week has also included one scheduling change, with Stanton's game against Ribault bumping forward to May 21 instead of May 23.
Jaguars Prep presents flag awards
Before the Jaguars hit the field for the NFL season, the Jacksonville Jaguars Community Foundation recognized some of Northeast Florida's top athletes of the spring in flag football.
Highlighting the Jaguars All-Prep Flag Football team were Fleming Island wide receiver London Jenkins, named the organization's player of the year, and White head coach Bachir Saoud, the coach of the year.
Also on the list were Atlantic Coast's Gaby Rourke; Bartram Trail's Lily Holden; Clay's Lily Kalil, Shelby McClain and Teaghan Moses; Crescent City's Paola Cruz; Fleming Island's Devyn Dudones and Gabi Musa; Fletcher's Jasmine Cross, Ashley Mohrmann and Katie Rodney; Mandarin's Irvieona Gantt and Alexis Pabon; Middleburg's Brooke Cooper and Cheyenne Jenkins; Paxon's Ansley Hicks and Reese Holman; Sandalwood's Ashley Purdy; Stanton's Catherine Brewer, Courtney Brown and Gaby Fajardo; and White's Kyra Jackson, Elyhana Perez-Stevenson and Tyra Pierce.
Around the area
Episcopal held a signing ceremony Thursday for Kathryn Almond (Florida Southern, volleyball) and Anessa Coomes (Furman, cheerleading). … Clay wide receiver Payton Dykas signed with Mount Dykas football and infielder Kendyll Mann signed with East Georgia State College softball. … Baker County's Brooklyn Davis signed with Florida State College at Jacksonville and Haley Marker signed with Florida Gateway College for softball. … St. Augustine's Noah Forbes signed with Wingate men's soccer. … Former Mandarin running back Terrell Jennings signed with the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent. … Former Sandalwood quarterback Jeff Sims committed to Arizona State football after his transfer from Nebraska. … Former Columbia quarterback Jordan Smith announced his plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal from Tuskegee football. … Former Ponte Vedra guard Ross Candelino is transferring from Wisconsin to Lipscomb men's basketball. … Clay and Palatka added Leesburg as an opponent for a 7 p.m. May 22 spring football jamboree at Palatka. … Fleming Island's Roman Mollicone ran a school-record 1:53.25 in the boys 800-meter hurdles, Addie Larson set a school record of 1:07.35 in the girls 400 hurdles and the school also set a boys 4x800 relay record. … Gabriel Lewis of Gulliver Prep won the Florida Dairy Farmers Mr. Water Polo award and Halle Zimlich of Sanford Seminole was named Miss Water Polo. … The Florida Athletic Coaches Association All-Star Classic for flag football is scheduled for Saturday at Mulberry High School.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: First Coast Varsity Weekly: Aidan King 20-strikeout Bishop Snyder game
