Winter Park, Lake Brantley among top seeds entering district tourneys
Winter Park and Lake Brantley earned top seeds for Class 7A baseball district tournaments next week in what will be a return to postseason play in Florida for the first time since 2019.
Spring sports were cut short last year due to COVID-19.
The Wildcats, ranked No. 14 among all classifications and No. 5 in 7A in the final FHSAA power ratings of 2021, carried a 21-1 record into the final week of the regular season. Lake Brantley enters the postseason ranked No. 19 in the state and No. 6 in 7A.
Winter Park will play the winner of No. 4 seed Hagerty (11-11) and No. 5 Colonial (7-10) in a District 3 semifinal Wednesday at Timber Creek High School. At stake is a chance to advance to regional play.
No. 3 Timber Creek, which won a large-class state title in 2017 and reached the final four in three consecutive years, handed the Wildcats their lone loss of the year in extra innings March 5. Timber Creek was a state runner-up in 2018 and semifinalist in 2019.
The Wolves (13-9) open against No. 6 Orlando University (4-16) Monday at 7 p.m. The winner of that game plays No. 2 Oviedo (16-8) in the other district semifinal.
Admission to district tournament games is $6 per session. Tickets for most area schools are available online through the Go Fan app.
District champions and district runners-up advance to regional quarterfinal rounds Thursday, May 6 and Friday, May 7.
Lake Brantley (19-3), which hosts the District 4 tournament, awaits the winner of No. 4 Ocoee (9-9) and No. 5 Boone (6-14) for a Tuesday semifinal. No. 2 Apopka (20-3) will face the winner of No. 3 West Orange (15-7) and No. 6 Evans (1-13). Apopka ranks No. 14 in Class 7A.
The Patriots defeated Boone 3-2 March 4 and have not faced any other district opponent this season.
Orange City University, ranked No. 11 in 7A, narrowly secured the No. 1 seed in District 2 by a 15.453 to 15.450 power rating over Port Orange Spruce Creek (18-6). The Titans (18-3) defeated Spruce Creek by one run twice in March before losing to the Hawks 5-3 at home April 13.
No. 3 seed Seminole (12-9) hosts No. 6 DeLand (3-16) and No. 4 Lake Mary (10-10) hosts No. 5 Ocala West Port (11-9) in District 2 quarterfinal games Monday. Seminole won the large-class state championship in 2019.
The First Academy enters the postseason ranked No. 5 in Class 3A with a 21-1 record. The Royals host the winner of No. 4 Lake Highland Prep (9-8) and No. 5 Cornerstone Charter (11-8) in a District 6 semifinal Tuesday at 7 p.m.
TFA closes out the regular season this week with home games vs. Lake Minneola (15-6) Thursday and Bishop Moore (8-11) Friday. Lake Minneola is the No. 1 seed in Class 5A District 5 and Bishop Moore, which topped TFA in extra innings on March 13, is the No. 1 seed in Class 4A District 6.