S. Sumter seeks to finish strong

The top seed in baseball’s Class 5A, District 6 standings comes down to a two-game series this week between South Sumter and Tavares.

South Sumter (15-2, 7-1 in 5A-6) needs one win to claim the No. 1 spot heading into a district tournament that starts May 1. Tavares (9-9, 6-2) must win both games to avoid settling for second place.

The games take place at South Sumter today and at Tavares on Friday at 7 p.m.

“What we’ve discovered over the past five years is that it seems like teams get kind of pumped up to play against us,” South Sumter coach Mike Foote said. “We don’t expect Tavares to be any different. They’re a good ballclub and will be tough to beat.”

After starting the season 12-0, the Raiders dropped back-to-back games before winning their next three.

South Sumter lost 5-4 in eight innings at The Villages, then fell 2-0 to Montverde Academy in what Foote considers valuable learning experiences.

“The loss at The Villages was not good management on my part. I probably should’ve changed the pitcher out when we got ahead 4-2,” Foote conceded. “We learned some things from that Montverde game and found out the difference between a pretty good team and a really good team.”

The Raiders, state semifinalists in 2015, responded with a 4-0 win over The Villages and two more wins against Eustis despite trailing 3-0 in each of those outings last week.

Although the pitching staff is not overpowering, South Sumter owned a 0.18 earned-run average through its first 12 games behind the efforts of starters Colby Woodard and Matthew Tadlock and lefty reliever Chris Sumner.

Tavares enters this week hitting .281 as a team with a 2.50 earned-run average.

The First Academy (17-2, 6-0), ranked No. 6 in the Sentinel Super Six, needs one win this week in its series against Ocala Trinity Catholic (13-5, 4-2) to claim the top seed in 4A, District 3. The Royals are on the road today and at home Friday for 7 p.m. games.

No. 5 Lake Brantley rebounded from two losses to No. 1 West Orange two week ago with wins over Lake Mary, Lyman and Gainesville. The Patriots will be challenged this week at No. 3 Hagerty on Wednesday and at Winter Park on Friday. Both games start at 7 p.m.

Trinity Prep is at Deltona Trinity Christian on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in a matchup of teams ranked in the Second Six. Deltona Trinity, rated No. 2 in the 2A state poll, then travels to the second-ranked team in 1A, Pierson Taylor, on Friday at 7 p.m. 1. West Orange (19-3) 2. Orange City University (15-5) 3. Hagerty (15-6) 4. Olympia (13-7) 5. Lake Brantley (15-4) 6. First Academy (17-2)

Apopka, Deltona Trinity, New Smyrna Beach, South Sumter, Ocoee, Trinity Prep.