Clay, Suwannee march on in rare Sunday high school baseball playoffs
Weather forced a rare playoff round of Sunday high school baseball, with two Northeast Florida teams punching their tickets to FHSAA regional finals.
Clay's pitching steamroller is gaining momentum. In a rare round of Sunday high school baseball , Ethan Mathis hurled a one-hitter and struck out 13 batters to lead Clay past visiting Escambia 8-1 in Game 2 of the Florida High School Athletic Association Region 1-4A baseball semifinal series on May 3. The FHSAA gave special clearance to the Sunday game, normally not permitted under association rules, after weather had washed out Saturday's scheduled action in Green Cove Springs.
Following a one-hit combined shutout by Rylan McMahan and Braden Phenneger in Clay's 5-0 win in Game 1 on May 1, and McMahan's no-hitter of Wakulla in the regional first round, the Blue Devils (17-13) have limited foes to two hits in three playoff games. McMahan went 2 for 2 in the opening game to quickly pull away from Escambia (16-14), and in Sunday's Game 2, Tyler Gunsaulus collected three RBI as Clay picked up three runs each in the second and fourth innings. Clayton Sanders' double broke up the no-hitter in the sixth.
Clay next begins the regional final series May 8 and 9 against No. 1 seed Choctawhatchee. REGION 1-3A Suwannee d.
Fernandina Beach 2-1 (12-0, 3-4, 5-1) Pitcher Gabe Garcia went the distance in Sunday baseball and drove in a run during a two-run first inning to help the Bulldogs knock off host Fernandina Beach 5-1 in Game 3. Prior to weather issues, the teams had split a Friday doubleheader. Suwannee won a 12-0 rout on a three-RBI effort from Hampton Newman and a three-hitter from Kyler Watson, before the Pirates (23-6) struck back to win 4-3 in Game 2 behind six solid innings from Grady Stevens.