Blayne Merchant

The BCHS Wildcat weight lifting team hosted the final sectional meet for the FHSAA State Qualifying series on Saturday, April 6 and continued their dominance of the section, qualifying all 15 lifters allowed by the state for this meet.

In sectional competition the first place finisher gets the automatic bid to the state meet. The second, third and fourth place finishers’ totals get put in a pool for the 9 at-large bids left for the state competition.

The Wildcats compete in 1A section 4 comprised of Baker, Keystone Heights, Fort White, Palatka, Interlachen, Union, Bradford, Hawthorne, Matanzas, Menendez, Eastside, Oak Hall and Sante Fe high schools.

The results: 129-Brandon Harvey second place, 390 total; 139-Brandon Wheeler sixth place, 385 total; 154-Dalton Dyal first place, 550 total; Jacob Stalvey fourth place, 495 total; 169-Darius Green first place, 610 total; Hunter Chambers fourth place, 515 total; 183-Talmedge Turner first place, 605 total; Blayne Merchant second place, 550 total; 199-Valdez Jackson second place, 590 total; 219-John Ryan Enlow second place ,610 total; 238-Elisha Lee fifth place 580 total; heavy weight-Dillon Mills first place, 720 total; and Skyler Lane sixth place 560 total.

The Wildcat baseball team over the weekend bounced back from a blistering loss on March 25 to Clay County, winning the Fernandina Beach Diamond Classic by sweeping three games.

The win brings the Cats’ record to 16-2 overall.

It was a relief for the Cats after a rough loss at home to the Blue Devils. BCHS was knocked dizzy by a quick seven runs in the first inning and never recovered as Clay racked up an 18-8 win.

BCHS tried to keep it close early and closed the gap to 7-4. But Clay scored five runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to seal the victory, only the second loss of the season for Fred Matricardi’s Cats.   

At Fernandina, Ethan Wilkerson was MVP of the tournament and hit .500 through three games.

The Cats got things started with a 4-0 romp over Tatnell Square Academy of Macon, GA. The game was scoreless through seven innings. Jared Crews had a strong outing on the mound, throwing 6 2/3 innings of scoreless ball.

Jacob Milton gets a hit during the Wildcats win over Fernandina at Suns stadium in Jacksonville.

The Baker High varsity baseball team went 2-0 the past week to improve to 13-1, and locked up the number one seed in the district tournament in the process.

On March 19 the Wildcats beat the visiting Fernandina Beach Pirates 2-1. Freshmen Dylan Hall picked up the win, throwing 3.2 innings and giving up only one run. Jacob Milton pitched 2.1 scoreless innings in relief and Hunter Hanks picked up the save with a scoreless seventh inning.

Jared Crews led the offense with a pair of hits and Ethan Wilkerson added an RBI double.

“We didn’t swing the bats very well that night; maybe we were looking ahead to Friday’s game,” said Coach Fred Matricardi.

On March 22 the Cats hosted Bishop Kenny to determine the number one seed in the district tournament and handled the Crusaders 8-2 in what Matricardi called “our best game of the season.”

Hunter Hanks steals third.

The Wildcat varsity baseball team is sizzling hot at 11-1 this season, and went 3-0 this past week with wins over a very good Episcopal squad, Forrest and Palatka.

The win over the Episcopal Eagles on March 11 at the home field was a touch and go affair. The game bounced back and forth as BCHS came from three runs back to defeat the Rams 8-7 in nine innings.

Jacob Milton started on the mound and Justin Guillory picked up the win in relief, throwing two scoreless innings.

“I’m very proud of Justin because he hasn’t pitched in over a year coming off an arm injury,” said Coach Fred Matricardi. “He has stayed positive and continued to work hard.”

The Cats were down 3-0 in the fourth and scored five runs to take the lead. Jacob Milton doubled, Hunter Hanks singled to bring Milton in, and Ethan Wilkerson followed up with a two-run homer to tie the game. The Cats took the lead when Mikal Flores doubled and Dylan Hall got a single that brought Flores across the plate. Hunter Bell scored on a squeeze play to put BCHS up 5-3.

Episcopal regained the lead with a pair of runs in the seventh. The Cats tied the game when Grant Gregory reached on a error. Brandon Miller singled, Jacob Milton grounded out, with two outs and runners on second and third. Hunter Hanks had a great at bat and reached on a error to score Miller and Milton.