St. Johns County baseball: Beachside upsets Columbia, Creekside rallies past Winter Park

Beachside's playoff debut hadn't even started, and head coach Jason Smith knew starting pitcher Jake Meadows was in prime condition.

"He walked off after bullpen [pregame sessions] and he said, 'This is the greatest I've ever felt,'" Smith said.

Meadows pitched like it, too, hurling a four-hit shutout to upset third-seeded Columbia 2-0 and secure the second-year Barracudas' first-ever playoff victory in the Florida High School Athletic Association Region 1-5A baseball quarterfinals.

The senior, committed to the College of Central Florida, struck out nine and walked two over 95 pitches to tame the Tigers (15-13) in the fourth consecutive must-win game for Beachside. The Barracudas had to win the District 4-5A tournament to qualify for FHSAA regionals.

"I didn't think anyone could beat me," Meadows said. "You just have that confidence and trust everything you throw."

Derek Ochoa boosted the Barracudas (16-13) to a first-inning lead, reaching on a three-base error and scoring on Brian D'Errico's single. Four frames later, Ochoa singled, sprinted from first to third on a wild pitch and crossed the plate on Gavin Nickel's sac fly.

That was plenty of run support for Meadows, who rarely encountered trouble against the 2023 state semifinalists. Columbia put two runners aboard in the second before Meadows ended the inning with two strikeouts, and picked off the Tigers' lead runner with men on first and second and two outs in the fifth.

"Our guys know with Meadows throwing, if we get one, that's all we need most times," Smith said.

Beachside next heads to Clay (17-9), which won a wild 11-7 contest with visiting Ponte Vedra (12-16). Jacksonville University commit Easton McMahan homered and knocked in four runs. For Ponte Vedra, Jack Brady homered and singled, and Grady Hartman whacked a pair of doubles.

St. Augustine stranded runners on second and third base on the final out of their 5-4 loss at Escambia (21-7). The Yellow Jackets (15-11) cut Escambia's lead to one in the sixth on Xavier Ahr's RBI single but left a total of nine runners aboard in the final four innings. Jordan Luckie knocked in two runs for the Gators.

REGION 1-7A

Sean Ashenfelder came through with the go-ahead single in the bottom of the fifth, leading Creekside in a 3-2 come-from-behind win over Winter Park (13-13). Matthew Bysheim pitched four innings of scoreless relief for the Knights (18-10), who advance to meet Lake Mary.

Bartram Trail's season ended when Shane Lavin's squeeze bunt in the bottom of the eighth scored Lucas Tutunjian with the winning run for Spruce Creek (19-9) in a 7-6 game. Bartram Trail (16-12) scored two runs in the sixth and three in the seventh, only for the Hawks to reply each time.

REGION 1-6A

Andy Lemaster's first-inning home run wasn't enough for Tocoi Creek (18-8), which lost 11-4 in its trip to Tallahassee Chiles (19-8). The host Timberwolves jumped ahead to stay in a four-run fourth, with Davis Avera, Tyler Correa and Saunder Dinkelman each hitting homers.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: FHSAA first-round baseball playoffs 2024: St. Johns Tuesday wrap