Florida League, TFA both hosting tournaments during spring break
The annual Florida League High School Invitational in Sanford and inaugural O-Town National Classic at The First Academy headline a busy week of spring-break baseball for area programs.
TFA welcomes teams from Tennessee and Colorado for a series of games against Apopka, East Ridge, Harmony and Ocala Trinity Catholic.
The Florida League field features 18 teams, including last year’s winner Lake Howell and 2021 champion Hagerty among the nine squads from the Orlando area.
First-year East Ridge head coach Dakoda Grove is bracing for a challenging stretch the next two weeks for his team, which began with a rare 10-5 win Thursday during an in-school game at Groveland South Lake. The Knights (7-1) had dropped six of their past eight meetings with the Eagles.
East Ridge, 9-16 last year, will follow the O-Town Classic with a home rematch versus South Lake (3-4) and road games at Central Florida Christian (3-3), Apopka (4-4) and Lake Minneola (6-1).
“We’ve got a nine-game stretch where it’s going to be the toughest games of the year for us, but we’re excited for it,” Grove said. “We understand that when the season is done this stretch is going to be a big determining factor on what kind of seed we get for the [district] playoffs.”
Grove will be joined by assistant coach Joseph Sapiro in his return to TFA for the second time this season, where his Grove’s dad Scott is closing in on 200 wins in nine years with the Royals.
Dakoda Grove and Sapiro are 2018 TFA graduates. They got their first look at East Ridge’s potential while opening the preseason at their alma mater.
Switch-hitting junior shortstop Javier Calzadilla is batting .476 (10-for-21) with six doubles and 10 runs scored. Senior pitcher Jahshua Olea has 14 strikeouts in 9 innings pitched.
TFA (5-0), two years removed from winning a Florida High School Athletic Association state championship, returned five starters to a team that reached the Class 3A region finals. Center fielder Jaden Bastian and first baseman Trent Kelly are Jacksonville University signees.
Apopka seniors Philip DeVita (.600 average, six runs) and TJ Burske (.533, two triples) are among four players with at least eight hits for the Blue Darters.
Harmony (2-5) boasts only three seniors on its roster, including starting pitcher Caden Scarborough. The right-hander has 27 strikeouts and four earned runs allowed in 13 innings.
Ocala Trinity enters the week 5-1. Tennessee’s Nashville Montgomery Bell and Cleveland Bradley Central, along with Colorado’s Parker Ponderosa, round out the participants.
Admission to the O-Town National Classic is $10 per day. The event begins Monday with Harmony versus East Ridge at 11 a.m. and Ocala Trinity versus Apopka at 2 p.m.
Tuesday games include Ponderosa versus Ocala Trinity at 11 a.m., East Ridge versus Montgomery Bell at 2 p.m. and TFA versus Harmony at 6. Wednesday features Ponderosa versus Harmony at 11 a.m., Apopka versus Bradley Central at 2 p.m. and TFA versus
Montgomery Bell at 6.
On Thursday it’s Bradley Central versus East Ridge at 9 a.m., Harmony versus Apopka at noon, Ocala Trinity versus Bradley Central at 3 and TFA versus Ponderosa at 6. Friday games are Apopka versus Ponderosa at 11 a.m., East Ridge versus Ocala Trinity at 2 p.m. and TFA versus Bradley Central at 6.
Florida League Invitational
In its 16th year, the Florida League High School Invitational has seen 18 players become firstround picks in the major-league draft and 17 players in all reach the major leagues.
This week’s “The Classic” tournament takes place at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium and the Boombah Sports Complex. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students.
Pool play is scheduled for Monday-Wednesday. Thursday semifinal games (4:15 and 6:45 p.m.) and Friday’s championship game (6:45 p.m.) will be played at Memorial Stadium.
Hagerty, a state semifinalists last spring, headlines Pool A alongside Clearwater (3-4), Treasure Coast (4-3) and Normal University of Illinois. The Huskies entered Friday’s game at Lake Brantley with a 5-1 record.
Senior Luis Rivero is batting .471 (8-for-17) with eight RBIs, five extra-base hits and 10 runs scored. Junior pitchers Jeremiah Stewart and Brayden Toro, a South Florida commit, have combined for 30 strikeouts in 17 innings.
Normal University’s roster includes junior pitcher Matt Sauser, a Florida State commit.
Defending champion Lake Howell (2-5) is grouped with Deltona (4-3), West Orange (3-2), Eau Gallie (4-4) and Stuart South Fork (4-2) in Pool B.
Clemson signee Chance Fitzgerald, last year’s most valuable pitcher at the tournament, has not
yet played this season. Florida Gulf Coast signee Matt Misiti leads the Silverhawks with 25 strikeouts and four earned runs in 14 innings pitched.
Deltona and West Orange entered the season with new head coaches. Anthony Campanella, who won 456 games the past three decades at Daytona Beach Seabreeze and Flagler Palm Coast, now leads the Wolves. West Orange is coached by Kyle Flanigan.
Eau Gallie’s roster is led by Florida State signee Riley Jackson at catcher.
Pool C consists of East River (8-1), Montverde Academy (6-1), Mount Dora (5-3), Sanford Seminole (1-5) and Martin County (4-4).
East River sophomore shortstop Ty Kennedy is turning heads while batting .485 (16-for-33) with 10 RBI, six extra-base hits and 11 runs scored. Kennedy, playing alongside five senior college signees, is an Oklahoma State commit.
Montverde, the 2018 tournament champ, is loaded with Division I talent that includes senior shortstop John Martinez (Florida), catcher AJ Goytia (Miami) and Lake Brantley transfer Logan Chapman (Georgia Tech).
Mount Dora snapped a threegame skid Thursday with a 10-8 win at Tavares (4-4). Seminole sophomore outfielder Jalen Foxx is a South Carolina commit, and Martin County senior pitcher/infielder Nick Robert is a Miami signee.
Timber Creek (3-2) clashes with Port Orange Atlantic (2-6), Tampa Prep (2-4) and Tennessee’s Knoxville Farragut in Pool D.
The Wolves are led by junior pitcher Connor Mulready, who has 18 strikeouts with five hits and no earned runs allowed in 11 innings. Senior catcher/first baseman Drew Pynes is a South Carolina Upstate signee. Sophomores Sebastian Hurtado (Miami) and Eli Buffaloe (UCF) man multiple positions in the infield.
Farragut opens its season with Texas A&M signee Jett Johnston at third base and junior UCF commit Lukas Buckner in the infield.