By Marshall Tempest
Reporter
The Apopka baseball team will begin its quest for a district crown against the Ocoee Knights next week in the Class 7A District 4 Tournament at Lake Brantley.
West Orange—which sits atop the district standings—Lake Brantley, Lake Mary and Seminole will also vie for the district title and a bid in the state playoffs.
As of Wednesday, April 9, West Orange boasts a sparkling an 18-5 record and is ranked 43rd in the state. Lake Brantley follows with a 14-8-1 record and is ranked 60th in the state. Apopka comes in with a 13-7 record, followed by Ocoee (11-11), Lake Mary (11-12) and Seminole (4-19).
In the quarterfinal round, four-seed Lake Mary will host five-seed Seminole, while three-seed Apopka will host six-seed Ocoee. The winner of the Apopka and Ocoee game will face Lake Brantley in the semifinal round of the district championship. The winner of the Lake Mary and Seminole game will face West Orange in the semifinals.
Apopka faced Ocoee once this season, back in February, and dominated the Knights 10-2. If Apopka can show their growth since the beginning of the season, they should be able to have a similar performance against Ocoee in the first round.
The Blue Darters had a very similar journey to the district championship last year, when they were also the third seed facing the sixth seed in the opening round. They trounced Evans, 16-0, to advance to the semifinals.
In the semifinal round, Apopka faced second-seeded West Orange, which the Blue Darters defeated 5-3 to earn a chance to be the district champions.
But Apopka fell to the Lake Brantley Patriots, 7-4, in the district title game.
Even if Apopka were to experience the same fate this year, head coach Bobby Brewer thinks there’s a good chance his team could still sneak into the state playoffs—if they take care of business at the end of the regular season.
“We need to win all three games this week to keep our rankings where we need to be,” Brewer said. “So, we get in (the state tournament) even if we don’t win the district championship.”
