The path to an FHSAA baseball state championship has been revealed for eight Pensacola area teams after the brackets were released on April 20.
Pace (6A) and Northview (Rural) automatically qualified by winning district championships, while x other teams earned at-large bids
The state playoffs begin for classes 1A-7A with a winner-take-all regional quarterfinals. Classes 4A-7A will play their regional quarterfinals on April 24, with classes 1A-3A playing on April 25.
The Rural state playoffs start with the regional semifinals, which will be May 1-2 for all classes, followed by the regional finals on May 8-9. The regional semifinals and finals will be best two-out-of-three series, with all games at the higher seed. Game one will be on the first day, with game two and an if-necessary game three on Saturday.
This is different from last year’s state playoffs, where all three regional rounds were best two-out-of-three series.
All roads lead to the state championships, which will be May 13-16 and May 18-20 at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers.
Below is a breakdown of all regional brackets featuring Pensacola area teams. District champions are marked with an asterisk (*) and will host in the regional quarterfinals unless playing a higher seeded district champion.
Region 1-6A
(1) Pace* vs. (8) Winter Park Lake Howell*
(4) Tate vs. (5) St. Augustine Tocoi Creek
(2) Gainesville Buchholz* vs. (7) Jacksonville Mandarin*
(3) St. Johns Bartram Trail vs. (6) Orange Park Oakleaf
Analysis: Pace keep its spot atop not just Region 1 but the entire 6A classification after winning their sixth straight district title on April 16. This means it will have homefield advantage in the first three rounds if it continues to advance. If not for Braiden Cheshire’s walkoff home run int he District 1-6A final, Pace would be making a nearly seven hour trip to Lake Howell for the regional quarterfinals.
The Patriots are making their sixth straight state playoff appearance and are looking to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2022, when they finished as 6A state runner-up. Pace has won four state championships, with the last coming in 2010.
Last year, Pace lost to Buchholz 2-1 (11-4, 2-11, 5-4 in the Region 1-6A final. The Bobcats (19-7) are the No. 2 seed in the region this year.
Lake Howell (11-16) won the District 4-6A championship to clinch its first state playoff appearance since 2019. The Silverhawks haven’t won a state payoff game since 2011, when they advanced to the Region 1-6A final.
Tate (20-7) keeps a regional quarterfinal home game despite a heartbreaking loss to Pace in the District 1-6A final. The Aggies are making their second straight state playoff appearance and were swept by Buchholz in the Region 1-6A semifinals (3-2, 3-2) a year ago.
Tate is the Pensacola area’s most successful program, winning seven state championships, with the last one coming in 2005.
Tocoi Creek (14-13), which opened in 2021, is making it third straight state playoff appearance. The Toros were swept by Pace (0-15, 0-11) in the Region 1-6A semifinals a year ago
If Pace and Tate both advance they would meet at Pace in the regional semifinals. The Patriots won two of three meetings between the two teams this season, including last week’s district final.
Region 1-5A
(1) Tallahassee Chiles vs. (8) Ponte Vedra*
(4) Gulf Breeze vs. (5) Tallahassee Lincoln*
(2) Niceville* vs. (7) St Johns Beachside
(3) Lynn Haven Mosley vs. (6) Lake City Columbia*
Analysis: Gulf Breeze (16-11) hung on to its top four seed in the region, but will have to travel to Lincoln (13-14) after the Trojans upset Mosley and Chiles to win the District 2-5A title. This is a rematch from earlier this season, as Gulf Breeze beat Lincoln 7-2 on April 3.
Lincoln advanced to the Final Four a year ago and is making its fifth straight state playoff appearance. The Trojans have won their regional quarterfinal matchup in each of the previous four appearances.
Gulf Breeze is making its second straight state playoff appearance and were lost to Chiles 2-1 (5-4, 4-13, 2-9) in the Region 1-5A quarterfinals a year ago. Dolphins head coach Randall Fant will not return next season, but will continue to coach the team if they advance.
Region 1-4A
- (1) Choctawhatchee* vs. (8) Baker County
- (4) Panama City Beach Arnold vs. (5) St. Augustine
- (2) Jacksonville Bishop Kenny* vs. (7) Escambia
- (3) Clay* vs. (6) Wakulla*
Analysis: Escambia (15-12) dropped from the No. 6 seed to the No. 7 seed in the most recent FHSAA rankings.
The Gators have the same record as Bishop Kenny (15-12) but the Knights have the No. 2 seed after playing the second toughest schedule in the 4A classification according to the FHSAA rankings.
Bishop Kenny is a playoff mainstay, making its 11th straight appearance. The Knights were swpt by Clay (2-3, 1-9) in the Region 1-4A quarterfinals a year ago. Escambia is making its fourth straight playoff appearance and was swept by Clay (1-2, 2-6) in the Region 1-4A semifinals a year ago. The Gators have won five state titles, but their last came in 1991.
Outside of No. 1 seed Choctaw (22-5), no other team in the Region 1-4A playoffs enters more than three games above .500. Defending Region 1-4A champion Arnold (15-12) is the No. 4 seed.
Region 1-3A
- (1) South Walton* vs. (8) Jacksonville Wolfson
- (4) West Florida vs. (5) Baldwin
- (2) Fernandina Beach* vs. (7) Panama City Bay*
- (3) Live Oak Suwanee* vs. (6) Callahan West Nassau
Analysis: West Florida (17-8) drops from No. 3 seed in Region 1-3A in the previous FHSAA rankings to No. 4 but keeps a regional quarterfinal home game.
Both the Jaguars and Indians were district runner-ups. West Florida lost to South Walton in the District 1-1A final, while Baldwin lost to Suwanee in the District 3-3A final.
West Florida is making its third straight state playoff appearance and lost to Suwanee 2-1 (2-5, 9-8, 0-7) in the Region 1-3A semifinals a year ago. Baldwin is making its second straight state playoff appearance and lost to Suwanee 2-1 (4-9, 8-2, 5-6) in the Region 1-3A quarterfinals a year ago.
The winner will likely face defending state runner-up South Walton (23-4), who beat West Florida 3-1 in the District 1-1A championship on April 16. The Seahawks are ranked No. 2 overall in the state and have lost in the 4A state championship each of the last two seasons.
Region 1-2A
- (1) Trinity Christian* vs. (8) Tallahassee Florida High*
- (4) Ocala Trinity Catholic* vs. (5) Panama City Bozeman*
- (2) Jacksonville Bishop Snyder vs. (7) Jacksonville Providence
- (3) Jacksonville Bolles vs. (6) Pensacola Catholic
Analysis: This will be the fourth sport that Bolles (18-7) and Catholic (16-10) will play each other in the playoffs this year. Bolles football beat Catholic in the Region 1-2A final, while Catholic’s boys soccer team got the best of Bolles in the Region 1-2A quarterfinals. Pensacola Catholic boys lacrosse will play at Bolles in the Region 1-2A quarterfinals on Tuesday.
For baseball, the Crusaders jumped from the No. 8 seed in the previous FHSAA rankings to the No. 6 seed for the regional playoffs after going 4-1 in the final two weeks of the regular season. Catholic lost to Bozeman in the District 1-2A championship and returns to the state playoffs after a one year absence.
Bolles is part of a loaded District 3-2A, which has the top three seeds in the Region 1-2A bracket. This is the Bulldogs fourth straight playoff appearance, which includes a 2-1 series loss to Bozeman (17-5, 3-9, 3-4) in the Region 1-2A quarterfinals a year ago. Bolles has won eight state championships in baseball, but none since 2017.
Defending state runner-up Trinity Christian (20-7) is the No. 1 seed in the region and is looking for its third straight Final Four appearance. This region is loaded, with the top five teams ranking in the top 10 in all of 2A and in the state’s top 50.
Rural Region 1
- (1) Northview* vs. (4) Chipley
- (2) Jay vs. (3) Holmes County
Analysis: The Chiefs (18-8) take the top seed and homefield advantage in the first two rounds after beating Jay in the Rural District 1 championship on April 17.
Northview is looking to wins its first state playoff games since it advanced to the regional finals and in 2022 and is looking to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2015. Chipley (15-10) is making its sixth straight state playoff appearance. Northview beat Chipley 17-3 on Feb. 24.
Jay (14-7) remains the No. 2 seed despite losing the district final, but will have to travel to Holmes County (12-14). It’s a rematch of last year’s Rural Region 1 final, which the Blue Devils swpet the Royals (10-5, 3-1) on the way to their second state championship in the last four years. Jay won the 2024 1A state championship before the FHSAA expanded the Rural classification to baseball in 2025.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: 8 Pensacola area baseball teams qualify for FHSAA playoffs