By Marshall Tempest
Reporter
The Blue Darter Baseball team’s 2025 season ended this week when they fell in the second round of the 7A District 4 Tournament. Apopka finished the season with a 14-10 record, ranked 160th in the state.
This season was filled with obstacles and challenges for the Blue Darter baseball team. The most obvious was that they didn’t have a home field for half of the season. Beyond being unable to play at home for the first 15 games of the season, Apopka was a very young squad this year.
With just four seniors, Apopka played against some of the state’s strongest, most experienced programs. This season, the Blue Darters’ four seniors were Wyatt Jaggers, Reef VanKuren, Connor McAfee, and Jarred Goodson. Next year, the team will be loaded with 12 seniors who are battle-tested.
Head coach Bobby Brewer told me he expects great things from his juniors, who will soon become seniors.
“We had so many playing varsity baseball their first time, so you’d have to think coming back that experience is going to do nothing but benefit us next year,” Brewer said. “We’re going to build on what we started this year… and come back next year and just blow the roof off everything.”
Brewer told me he looks forward to next year for more than one reason. First, it will be an easy transition compared to this year. So many guys were in their first year of varsity baseball and had never competed at such a high level. Now, it’s just about plugging the same names in the same places on the field and hoping they get better over the off-season. Furthermore, having 12 seniors can only help the team in those moments where talent is not enough and experience makes the difference.
This season, the Blue Darters scored 159 runs and allowed 97, for a positive scoring differential of 62 runs. Apopka won five home games, with just four home games being played at Apopka and eight as away games. Apopka’s highlight this season was beating the Villages Charter, which was previously undefeated. The Villages were ranked No.61 in the state when Apopka won a 6-2 upset.
Apopka had a good season at the plate, with a team batting average o
f .297. The Blue Darters tallied 185 hits, 161 runs, 127 RBIs, 26 doubles, four triples and three home runs. Wyatt Jaggers, Jez Hamrick, Aiden Rieli, Nico Posluszny and Collin VanFleet led the Apopka offense.
Jaggers led the team in batting average this season with a monstrous .423, collecting 22 hits, 24 runs, 18 RBIs, three doubles, one triple, two home runs and three stolen bases. Hamrick put up an impressive .316 batting average, tallying 18 hits, 14 runs, 20 RBIs, one double, one home run, and three stolen bases. 
Rieli finished with an excellent .389 batting average, recording 28 hits, a team-leading 25 runs, 11 RBIs, five doubles and eight stolen bases. Posluszny put up a .304 batting average, collecting 21 hits, 17 runs, 14 RBIs, four doubles and 14 stolen bases.
VanFleet finished the season with a .324 average, totaling 23 hits, 10 runs, 18 RBIs, one double and six stolen bases.
Brewer was impressed with the team’s growth this season at the plate. Hamrick and Posluszny will be seniors next year and are poised to improve, while VanFleet and Rieli are both sophomores and have much potential.
The Blue Darters played strong defense this year, with a team fielding percentage of .904. The team collected 448 putouts, four assists, eight double plays and 48 errors. Brewer praised the team as a whole but highlighted Posluszny, Hamrick and Rieli’s play on defense. He said he wouldn’t be surprised if Posluszny returned as one of the best shortstops in the county next year and that Rieli is one of the most explosive outfielders he’s ever coached.
The Apopka pitching staff was very deep this year, with 11 pitchers on the roster, although only nine saw time on the mound. As a team, Apopka’s ERA this season was 2.71. The Blue Darters collected 202 strikeouts while giving up 117 hits, 97 runs (58 earned), 78 walks, and five home runs.
Jaggers, Tyler Spaid, McAfee, and Camron Pennock stood out on the mound for Apopka. Pennock finished with the lowest ERA on the team with a 1.31 but only pitched 16 innings. He gave up 11 hits, 12 runs (three earned), 12 walks and collected 27 strikeouts in 16 innings.
Jaggers had the second-lowest ERA, finishing the season with a 2.18. He gave up 38 hits, 19 runs (11 earned), 12 walks, and struck out 30 in 35 and one-third innings.
Spaid was right behind Jaggers with a 2.73 ERA, giving up 29 hits, 23 runs (13 earned), seven walks, and struck out 37 in 33 and one-third innings. McAfee finished the season with a 3.04 ERA after giving up 10 hits, 21 runs (11 earned), 23 walks, and struck out 52 in 25 and one-third innings.
Brewer told me he is nothing but pleased with his pitchers this year, as most of them had never pitched at a varsity level. Pennock and Spaid are both juniors, so we can expect a lot from them next year in their senior season.
