Road to State: 11 Big Bend area baseball, softball teams make regional tournament

The road to the state championship is underway for Big Bend baseball and softball programs.

The FHSAA released the regional tournament brackets for both baseball and softball Saturday morning, and 11 Big Bend programs are in.

With seven area programs winning district titles, four teams received at-large bids to the tournament. In total, six baseball and five softball teams made regional tournaments.

As the attention turns towards Fort Myers for baseball programs and Clermont for softball, here is the breakdown of regional matchups for Big Bend teams.

1A Region 3 Baseball: Madison County gets 4-seed, on the road for round one

The Cowboys will hit the road and face the top seed in the Class 1A Region 3 tournament Lafayette (21-2) for the opening round of play.

Madison County (15-9) won the district title 3-1 over Liberty County on Thursday night, and now faces Lafayette for the third time this season with the Hornets winning both matchups, 8-7 in game one, 7-4 in game two. Lafayette won its district by beating Union County 2-1, the Hornets' ninth straight win.

The game will be played on Tuesday, May 7. The winner of the game will face the winner of No. 2 Union County and No. 3 Liberty County.

1A Region 3 softball: Aucilla Christian, Madison County are in

After a thrilling district title game that came down to the final pitch between Aucilla Christian and Madison County, both programs are into the regional tournament.

Aucilla Christian (10-9) received the fourth seed and automatic qualification after beating Madison County in the title game. The Warriors will be on the road, however, facing fellow district title winners in Branford (21-6).

Despite losing the district title game, Madison County (16-10) is in the regional tournament and is the third seed, facing Fort White (12-5) on the road.

Both games will be played on Thursday, May 9. The winners of the two matchups will face each other in the regional final.

2A Region 1 baseball: Another district title rematch for JPII and NFC

It's deja vu for JPII and NFC, as the two teams meet again for the fourth time this season.

The Panthers received the automatic bid for winning the program's first district title, beating the Eagles on Thursday night. JPII (16-5) is the third seed in the tournament, with NFC (8-14) receiving the sixth seed as an at-large team. JPII currently has the 2-1 series lead over NFC this season, beating the Eagles twice after losing the first game of the season to NFC.

The game will be played on Wednesday, May 8. The winner faces either No. 2 Providence or No. 7 Countryside Christian.

2A Region 1 softball: A district title rematch awaits St. John Paul II, North Florida Christian

Another case of deja vu on the diamond, but this time for baseball as again NFC and JPII will face in the 2A regional tournament.

The Eagles (17-6-2) beat the Panthers (12-10-1) with a 15-0 run-rule victory on Thursday night, winning a third straight district title, giving the team an automatic bid to the regional tournament and the second seed, while JPII got an at-large bid and seventh seed. This will be the third meeting of the season between the two teams, with NFC winning both games.

The game will be played on Wednesday, May 8. The winner of the game will face No. 3 St. Joseph and No. 6 Christ Church Academy.

4A Region 1 baseball: Wakulla gets an at-large bid, hosts Suwannee in round one

The War Eagles are in.

After losing the district championship game to Baker County 9-5, Wakulla (20-5-1) received an at-large bid to the regional tournament and earned a fourth seed, hosting fifth-seeded Suwannee (16-8-1) in the opening round of play. This will be the third meeting between the two teams, with the series split at one apiece.

The game will be played on Wednesday, May 8. The winner faces the winner of No. 1 Arnold and Sante Fe.

4A Region 1 softball: Wakulla top region as War Eagles look to return to state title game

It is a familiar feeling for Wakulla, sitting atop of the class 4A Region 1 tournament bracket.

The War Eagles (22-3) attempt to return to the state championship game begins with a home game against Menendez (15-6). Wakulla is coming off an 8-2 win over West Florida in the district title game, and the War Eagles have won 13 straight games heading into the regional quarterfinal.

The game will be played on Wednesday, May 8. The winner faces either No. 4 West Florida or No. 5 Paxon.

5A Region 1 baseball: Lincoln gets the top seed, hosts Orange Park

Lincoln gets the top seed in Class 5A Region 1.

After beating Columbia 2-0 in the district title game, a matchup that essentially determined who got the top seed, the Trojans (15-11) will host Orange Park (14-13) in the opening round of the Class 5A Region 1 tournament. After an up-and-down start to the season and playing one of the toughest schedules in the state, Lincoln has won four of its last five games heading into the quarterfinal.

The game will be played on Tuesday, May 7. The winner will play either No. 4 Escambia or No. 5 St. Augustine.

6A Region 1 baseball: Chiles get second seed, Buchholz takes top spot

The Timberwolves get the second seed in the Class 6A Region 1 tournament.

Despite beating the region's top seed Buchholz (20-8) twice in the regular season, Chiles (18-8) comes in as the second seed after beating Mosley 5-1 in the district title game. Hosting the seventh seed Tocoi Creek (18-7) in the regional quarterfinals, Chiles comes into the matchup winning four of its last five games.

The game will be played on Tuesday, May 7. The winner faces the winner of No. 3 Hagerty and No. 6 Oakleaf.

Liam Rooney covers preps sports for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: 11 Tallahassee area baseball, softball teams make regional tournament