Florida High School Athletic Association baseball regional tournaments begin this week with three matchups between Orlando area teams. Quarterfinal games are Tuesday for teams in Class 7A, 6A and 5A and Wednesday in Classes 4A, 3A and 2A. Winners advance to semifinals on Friday (7A-5A) and Saturday (4A-2A). On Tuesday, Windermere High (24-3) hosts Olympia (17-10) in 7A Region 2 and Lake Mary (19-7) is home vs. Seminole Athletic Conference rival Lake Brantley in 7A-1. Windermere has advanced to the regional finals each of the past two seasons. The Wolverines finished No. 3 in FHSAA 7A playoff power rankings behind defending champion Parkland Stoneman Douglas (21-5) and regional opponent Venice (24-3). Windermere defeated Olympia 5-1 in the District 5 championship game last week. Ty Head went 2-for-3 with an RBI, run scored and two stolen bases while Connor Fink held the Titans to three hits in five innings pitched. The Wolverines also won 11-1 on April 12. Lake Mary and Lake Brantley both are district champions. Those teams split two games two months ago as the Rams won 8-4 on March 12 and Lake Brantley won 1-0 on March 14. Seniors Ryley Chapman (24-for-71, 17 RBI) and Isaac Padilla (20-for-63, 4 doubles) lead the Patriots at the plate. Padilla is also 4-2 on the mound with a 0.93 earned run average. Timber Creek (21-6) ranks No. 7 in 7A. The Wolves enter Region 1 play as the No. 1 seed ahead of St. Johns Creekside (17-12) and Lake Mary. Hagerty (18-8) is No. 6 in 6A, good for the No. 3 seed in a challenging Region 1 bracket behind Gainesville Buchholz (20-8) and Tallahassee Chiles (18-8). The First Academy (21-6), winner in 10 of its past 11 games since undergoing a coaching change , is No. 5 in 2A. The Royals are the No. 2 seed in Region 1 behind defending state champion Lakeland Christian (21-4). Mount Dora Christian (19-8) hosts Foundation Academy (25-4) in a 2A-1 quarterfinal on Wednesday. Foundation, a regional finalist in 2023, has won three of the past four meetings, including a 7-0 victory on April 18. Other regional finalists from last year playing postseason games this week are Winter Park (7A-1), Bishop Moore (4A-2) and Montverde Academy (3A-3). Four district champions and the next four highest-ranked teams per region based on FHSAA power rankings qualified for the playoffs. The better seed is the home team in the quarterfinal round unless a district winner is paired with a non-district winner. Admission to regional games is $9. Tickets are available for purchase at the GoFan app.
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