Here are the capsules for the area baseball teams playing in tonight’s region semifinals in classes 7A-6A. The winners advance to Tuesday’s region finals.
Class 7A
Region 2
No. 4 Lakewood Ranch(19-7) at No. 1 Plant (18-7), 7
The Panthers, the top-ranked team in the region, bounced back from a loss in the 7A-7 district final in a big way by beating Sarasota 14-2 in the region quarterfinals.
Robert Satin threw a two-hitter, allowing two runs (one earned) while striking out four. On offense, Plant was led by Kirk Kolano, who went 3-for-3 with a homer and four RBIs.
The 7A-8 district champion Mustangs enter on a four-game win streak.
No. 3 Durant (20-5) at No. 2 Windermere (24-3-1), 3:30
Both teams are ranked among the top 10 in the class by MaxPreps (the Cougars are No. 8 and the Wolverines are No. 5).
Earlier this week, Durant extended its win streak to three games with a 2-1 region quarterfinal victory over Alonso that lasted 10 innings.
Blaine Rowland threw eight innings, allowing one earned run on six hits while striking out 11. Brantley Hayward went 2-for-2 on offense.
Windermere has won nine straight games, seven by seven or more runs.
Class 6A
Region 2
No. 4 Land O’ Lakes (22-6) at No. 1 Lakeland George Jenkins (22-6), 7
After going through a 1-3 stretch a month ago, the Gators have come together, winning nine straight games.
The streak continued with an 11-1 region quarterfinal win over rival Wiregrass Ranch in a rematch from the district final.
Bradon Durfee went 3-for-3 with a homer and four RBIs and Corey Hodierne nded up going 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs.
That was more than enough support for pitchers Nathan Aprile and Logan Baisley, who combined on a three-hitter in a game that was called after five innings because of the mercy rule.
The Eagles have won five straight, the last two each by a run.
Region 3
No. 5 Lennard (18-9) at No. 1 Sickles (26-2), 7
This is a rematch from a game the Gryphons won 5-1 last month.
Sickles, a defending state semifinalist, has now 18 straight games.
The Gryphons kept that streak going with a 7-0 region quarterfinal victory over Plant City.
Caden McDonald led Sickles, on the mound and at the plate. He threw a three-hit shutout with 17 strikeouts and had a homer, a double and three RBIs.
After two losses to Bloomingdale, the Longhorns exacted revenge with an 11-0 victory in the region quarterfinals.
Zack Bird threw four scoreless innings, giving up four hits and striking out five. RJ Torres went 3-for-4 with a homer, a triple and four RBIs.
No. 7 Riverdale (19-8) at No. 3 Gaither (21-6), 7
The Cowboys already have plenty of pitching. Now, they are showing they can produce on offense, too.
In the region quarterfinals, Gaither had nine hits, including two each by Anthony Linares and Jackson Mirza.
Steven Rojas and Zach Callahan combined a five-hitter, allowing two unearned runs while striking out six in an 11-0 win over Palmetto Ridge.
The Raiders are coming off a 7-1 victory over East Lake that extended their win streak to five games.
