Baseball: Class 5A state semifinal preview — May 22

State semiinals

All games are played at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers. Tickets are $12 and are available via GoFan. Parking is $10 for cars and $50 for buses (cash or credit card).  

Class 5A

Sebring (24-6) vs. Jesuit (26-4), 1 p.m., today

How they got here: Sebring d. Zephyrhills 3-1, d. Daytona Beach Seabreeze 6-1, d. Lake Wales 3-2. Jesuit d. North Fort Myers 12-2, d. Naples 4-2 (nine innings), d. Osceola 12-2.

Stat Leaders

CategorySebringJesuit
Batting averageDalton Percy, .333Wes Mendes, .417
Home runsRhett Vaughn, 5Two tied with 5
RBIsRhett Vaughn, 26Grant Jordan, 39
ERARhett Vaughn, 1.27Brooks Chamberlain, 1.22
StrikeoutsRhett Vaughn, 104Wilson Anderson, 51

Outlook

The Tigers, ranked first in the class and ninth nationally, are the defending state champions. They are trying to win consecutive titles for the first time. So far, Jesuit has been able to mostly cruise, beating North Fort Myers, Naples and Osceola by a combined 28-6 in the first three rounds of the playoffs to extend its current win streak to six games. On offense, two players, Grant Jordan and Wes Mendes, have each hit for the cycle in the past three weeks. The Blue Streaks rebounded from a loss to Lake Wales in the 5A-7 district final to win three straight playoff games, the last coming against the Highlanders in a rematch from the district championship game.