The St. Augustine Yellow Jackets will face off against the Choctawhatchee Indians at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
St. Augustine is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They walked away with a 10-6 win over Arnold. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Yellow Jackets considering their two-run performance the game before.
Josiah Vargas was excellent, going 2-for-3 with two runs, one double, and one RBI. Another player making a difference was Caiden Smith, who got on base in three of his five plate appearances with two runs and one RBI.
Meanwhile, Choctawhatchee won against Escambia last Friday with nine runs and they decided to stick to that run total again on Friday. Everything went the Indians' way against Baker County as they made off with a 9-0 victory. The Indians might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 12 matchups by six runs or more this season.
Trevor Camden made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only one hit while striking out six over 4.2 innings pitched. Camden was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with one home run and two RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Blake Peters, who went 2-for-3 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high. Maddox Gentry was another key player, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs and two RBI.
Choctawhatchee was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .433. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Baker County only posted a batting average of .083.
Choctawhatchee is on a roll lately: they've won 16 of their last 17 contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 23-5 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.6 runs on average over those games. As for St. Augustine, their record is now 15-13.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. St. Augustine has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Choctawhatchee struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.1 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
St. Augustine couldn't quite finish off Choctawhatchee when the teams last played back in April of 2025 and fell 12-10. Can the Yellow Jackets avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
