By FRANCIS FEDOR
francisfotography@outlook.com
Sumner headed out on the road to face a traditionally successful Strawberry Crest squad and were in the game, tied at 1-1 on the strength of a Winston Pennant HR, his fifth on the season. It was a three-run blast by Nico Cappucci off starter Jaylin Chambers, scoring Reuben Vasquez and Toby Highsmith, that propelled the Chargers to a 4-2 win and the district championship. The Stingrays added another run in the seventh on a Pennant lead-off double and an Isaiah Romano single but fell short of forcing a Charger bottom of the seventh. Charger pitcher Bubba Blount was credited with the win.
Sumner advanced to the district final with a win over Newsome on Tax Day, April 15. The Stingrays sent their top starter, Ethan DeJesus, to the hill and dominated with a 5-0 win. The Newsome Wolves advanced to play the Stingrays by upsetting three-seed Palm Harbor University 10-2 on April 14 in semi-final action. The Stingrays wasted no time getting on the board in the first by using a couple of walks and a clutch Isaiah Romano double to drive in Jaylin Chambers and Winston Pennant. It was all the run support DeJesus needed as he threw a no-hitter, striking out 15 Wolves, and faced only three over the minimum.
With the 15 K’s, DeJesus is now second in FLA (14 Nationally) for strikeouts with 109 for 2026. Sumner added three more runs in the fifth to pad the lead on back-to-back singles from Braylon Disla and Kaleb Williams.
East Bay jumped out to a 3-0 lead over Freedom in their wild district title game, using a first inning Jeffrey Diab double and a Connor Gavigan sac fly for a first inning run. The Indians added a pair in the third with a Johnathan Bryant fielders choice that scored both Diab and Rowland Ruiz, both reached on hit-by-pitch. It was all that the Indians scored, losing 4-3, in a wild finish that saw the Patriots rally back to tie the game in the top of the sixth and, after advancing a runner to third in the seventh had that runner break for home with a left-handed hitter in the box. A gutsy call to steal home and grab the one-run lead. The
Indians used a lead-off hit, followed by a steal of second by Qwenlen Bennett, to get a runner in scoring position as the potential tying run. The game ended with Rowland Ruiz Jr. hitting a ball hard that was snagged by the center fielder and Bennett advanced to third after tagging up. But upon an appeal by Freedom, questioning Bennett for leaving early, Bennett was called out, and the Partiots ended up winning the district championship.
East Bay moved on to the district final by defeating Spoto 14-1 in the semifinal game. Spoto set up the rematch of the 2025 semi-final with a 4-3 win over Hillsborough on Tuesday, April 14. The Indians used a three-run first to stake Cam Cook to an early lead, and he used that lead to limit the Spartans to a lone run. The East Bay offense went on a tear in the bottom of the sixth, scoring ten times to end the game early. Gavigan ended the night for the Spartans with a grand slam home run to punctuate the win in the ten-run final inning. The Indians used five hits, two errors and a hit-by-pitch to ignite the outburst.
Lennard ended its season with a tough 6-5 loss on the road in Palmetto in the opening round of district playoffs. The game was a rematch of the 2025 opening round where the Longhorns forced an extra inning before falling 2-0 to the Tigers. The Longhorns scored two in the first to stake late season phenom Myles
Wagner to the early lead, but the Tigers scored the next four runs to take a 4-2 lead after four innings. They extended the lead to 6-3 after five, but the Longhorns did not quit and rallied in the seventh, using a lead-off single from Luis Valentin-Ramos, a walk to Dalton Vernetti and a Tiger error to load the bases. A walk and sacrifice fly pulled Lennard within one run of a tie, but Tiger hurler Hector Leon induced a Jacob Gonzalez ground out to short to end the rally. The Longhorns acquitted themselves well against the 17-win Tigers on the road. But the Longhorn season ends as it did in 2025 with a tight road loss to Palmetto that sends the Tigers to the next round. Lennard turned its season around, finishing winning seven of eight to finish the regular season at 11-11 and creating positives Victor Martinez, head coach, can use going into 2027.
Riverview lost 10-9 with the Durant Cougars walking off the Sharks in the final inning. The game included a wild sixth inning where the teams combined for 13-runs, seven from the Sharks and six from the Cougars. It is a heartbreaking way for the season to end for Riverview, but Matthew Yates has positives to take into the 2027 season, his second with the Sharks. Yates loses nine seniors, but the team leader in ERA at 2.04, Parker Burt, is a junior, in a grouping of four other juniors that will be counted on for leadership.
Morgan got its inaugural taste of district playoff baseball but struggled in a 11-1 loss to Leto and will now turn its focus to putting together its first senior class on the field in 2027.
Story or any parts of the story are copyright protected, including AI revisions, without permission of the editor. Full game gallery available for purchase at https://www.maxpreps.com/photography/photographers/ Florida-Francis Fedor Photography/Graphics Inquiries: Email: FrancisFotography@Outlook.com Phone: 202-683-9691