First Coast Varsity Weekly: St. Johns Country Day baseball soars with Trinity win

Seth Alford isn't exactly used to the grand slam feeling.

"I've hit one in 12U, but other than that, I don't think I've ever hit one," the St. Johns Country Day junior said. "This was definitely the biggest."

So watching the ball drop over the left field fence for four instant RBI was a moment to remember for Alford and for Spartans baseball, defeating Trinity Christian 11-6 in a Monday night battle of Northeast Florida giants.

The Spartans scored in bunches — six runs in the second, five more in the fourth — to jump out to a nine-run lead against the young Conquerors. Trevor Bradley slammed the door with three-plus innings of relief after Brady Harris, among the brightest stars of a prospect-packed 2026 Conquerors class, had launched a three-run blast to give Trinity life.

Even after graduating a host of major college recruits like Connor Moore, Bradley Hodges and Jordan Taylor in the last few seasons, the Spartan cupboard is far from bare. Senior catcher Mason Terry became the latest St. Johns player to announce his college plans, committing Monday to Jacksonville University.

Junior infielder Alford is also among the future NCAA ballplayers, bound for USF, and he showed why on Monday. In addition to his bases-clearing blast in the fourth, he also showed quality glove work, turning a 5-3 game-ending double play in the seventh.

"It's a big win, always a rivalry between us, always a good game," Alford said.

Alford is just one of the top batters on a formidable St. Johns lineup that also includes the likes of seniors Shawn Andrade and Jacob Thomas and juniors Kyle Boylston and Kody Daneault. St. Johns (16-4) tops the Florida High School Athletic Association rankings for Class 2A, with wins over Northeast Florida programs including Clay, Fleming Island and Providence.

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Lee grad Fudge eyes NBA Draft

Three years after starring in the frontcourt for Lee (now Riverside), Jacksonville's Alex Fudge is setting his sights on the NBA Draft.

The University of Florida forward announced Monday that he is planning to forgo his remaining two years of NCAA eligibility to enter this summer's NBA Draft.

"Special thanks to Coach [Todd] Golden and staff for allowing me the opportunity to become a part of the Gator family, along with my loved ones who supported me through the years," Fudge said in a social media post announcing his draft entry.

Fudge played one year with the Gators, averaging 5.8 points and 4.5 rebounds following his transfer from LSU.

If selected, Fudge would become the first player from a Duval County public high school to be drafted since former Jackson guard and current Tigers head coach James Collins went to the Los Angeles Clippers at No. 36 in 1997. Fewer than a dozen players from Jacksonville-area schools have received NBA Draft selections, most recently former Potter's House center Udoka Azubuike at No. 27 overall by the Utah Jazz in 2020.

Some analysts have projected Fudge as a potential second-round selection, including Bleacher Report in December and ESPN during the summer.

At Lee, Fudge averaged 16.0 points and 9.9 rebounds as a junior, then 17.9 points and 12.2 rebounds in a senior season that ended early when he left for LSU.

The NBA Draft is scheduled for June 22 in Brooklyn.

Commanders restore Gateway flag football reign

The first snap flew backward, and Tremesha Harris went deep.

Nearly 50 yards later, White flag football was knocking on the door of an instant lead, and soon a Gateway Conference flag football championship.

"It was a really big thing, shifted the whole momentum of the game," the senior wide receiver said.

Starting with a length-of-the-field pass and continuing through more than 40 minutes of gritty defense, White held off Stanton 13-7 in Thursday's Gateway flag to win the Commanders' second county public school title in three years.

The long pass to Harris from quarterback Endia Maxwell advanced the Commanders to the goal line, where Brianna Henderson scored three plays later. In the second half, Harris tallied the second touchdown herself — her 25th of the year — after a Henderson catch-and-run moved near the end zone.

Those crucial plays were on top of a night of tireless pursuit and textbook flag pulls from Harris on defense, plus a devastating pass rush keyed by Elyhana Perez-Stevenson and Lynn Perrier. The Commanders needed all of them to hold off a determined Blue Devils squad, which had made adjustments after White's 25-13 win on March 30. Stanton finally got on the board in the final 90 seconds, but White drained the clock.

"They held us down really good, but Tremesha shined tonight," Commanders coach Bachir Saoud said.

With a 14-1 record, White entered the district tournament averaging nearly 24 points per game. The Commanders' only loss this season came March 9 against Fleming Island, a veritable juggernaut that has outscored its opponents 322-0 as of Tuesday afternoon.

St. Johns' Schmidt gets national call

From Spartan sky blue to the red, white and blue.

The United States Soccer Federation selected St. Johns Country Day freshman forward Sydney Schmidt for an Under-15 national team training camp, which will last through Sunday in Kansas City, Kan.

Schmidt scored 24 goals and 22 assists this season for the Spartans, who spent most of the year in the top 10 of the national rankings before Lakeland Christian stunned St. Johns 2-0 in the Class 2A state final in DeLand.

She becomes the latest of several Northeast Florida players to earn national calls at different levels in the past year. Former Spartan Carson Pickett represented the full U.S. women's team during the summer, Fleming Island's Lia Godfrey lined up for the Under-23 women in February, Bolles graduate Avery Patterson played for the Under-20 women in 2022 and Creekside junior Avery Robinson competed for the United States U-17 team in England two months ago.

Records stunning for CCA's Healey

There's perfect, and then there's super-perfect.

Maybe the latter designation sums up the season so far for Christ's Church senior and two-time FHSAA boys tennis champion Chase Healey, who is nearing the finish line of a high school career to rank among Florida's most successful on record.

Until last week's District 3-1A tournament at Episcopal, Healey had not lost a game in singles competition in 2023. Episcopal's Ford Rachels finally ended that particular run in the district final, but Healey still triumphed easily overall, 6-0, 6-1.

Entering this week's regional tournament, Healey is not only perfect on the year but holds a 71-0 combined high school record in singles and doubles for regular season and district play. His only three singles losses at CCA came while playing in postseason as a middle schooler against varsity high school opponents, and he hasn't lost at all in FHSAA singles since the 2019 Class 1A quarterfinals.

If not for the coronavirus pandemic, which cut the 2020 season short, Healey would have a chance to become the first player on record to win four consecutive FHSAA singles titles.

As it is, he could still become only the seventh player in FHSAA records to win singles titles in three straight years. Also on that list are Martin Buxby (Miami Senior, 1927-29), Frank Guernsey (Orlando, 1933-35), Buddy Behrens (Fort Lauderdale, 1945-47), Michael Belkin (Miami Beach, 1961-63), Blaine Willenborg (Archbishop Curley, 1976-78) and Alexander Bogomolov (Miami Sunset, 1999-2001).

Clayton Freeman covers high school sports and more for the Florida Times-Union. Follow him on Twitter at @CFreemanJAX.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: First Coast Varsity Weekly: St. Johns baseball leads FHSAA ranking