Baseball Recap: North Florida Christian Takes Down St. John Paul II in a Playoff Battle

It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but North Florida Christian had no problem doing just that on Thursday. Everything went their way against the St. John Paul II Panthers as they made off with an 8-1 victory. That's the fifth time they've managed to beat them this season, with their most recent win being a 10-9 victory on Tuesday.

North Florida Christian got a great performance from Bryson Bond as he pitched 5.1 innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits. What's more, Bond posted four strikeouts, the most he's had since back in March.

Kyle Estimond

Doubles (Career)

04/24/25 @ St. John Paul II	2
04/21/25 vs St. John Paul II	1
04/15/25 vs Wakulla Christian School	1
04/09/25 @ Suwannee	1
03/17/25 vs Wakulla	1

On the hitting side, Kyle Estimond was a standout: he went 2-for-4 with three RBI, two runs, and two doubles. Those two doubles gave him a new career-high. Caden Cooper was another key player, going 1-for-3 with two RBI, one run, and one double.

North Florida Christian is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games. That's provided a nice bump to their 12-16 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.2 runs on average over those games. As for St. John Paul II, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 17-8.

Looking ahead, North Florida Christian will face off against St. Johns Country Day at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. The Spartans will roll in looking for their sixth straight victory, something the Eagles surely won't give up without a fight. St. John Paul II does not have any more games scheduled as of now.