Creekside (19-7) at Lake City Columbia (16-12)
When: 7 p.m.
Potential Starters: Creekside — senior Hunter Bratek or junior Connor Hults will get the baseball. Columbia — Davion Love (5-4, 2.03) is a senior southpaw who has been the Tigers ace all season.
Analysis: Creekside hits the road after being stunned by St. Augustine in the District 4-7A final. The Knights rode their offense all season and will look to do so against the Tigers.
Daniel Cantu, Nick Tripp and Hunter Bratek have led the way offensively. Josh Emerson, who had a strong April before sustaining an injury, should be back in the lineup. Sophomore Jacob Topping has provided a spark at the bottom of the lineup, with 3 RBIs and two runs scored in the district tournament.
Cantu and Bratek are among the left-handed bats in the Creekside lineup. Columbia baseball coach Brian Thomas believes the left-on-left matchup may go a long way toward deciding who moves on to the Region 1-7A semifinals next Tuesday.
“They have kids who can swing it,” Thomas said. “Lefty on lefty is big. When you can throw with movement a lefty has a tendency to not dig in a lot. Davion, that’s his (modus operandi) He gets in on your hands as a righty and in on your hands as a lefty. If he can frustrate hitters, it’s going to be a good day for him.”
Up Next: The winner will face the winner of St. Augustine and Gainesville on May 15. Creekside would travel to St. Augustine and host Gainesville.
Source: Prep Baseball: St. Augustine, Creekside, Ponte Vedra begin playoff journey