Southwest Florida Baseball Teams Head to State Finals as Fort Myers Gets Ready for Game 3 Showdown

Two local teams made it to state finals, while Fort Myers baseball faces a must-win Game 3 against Braden River in the Class 5A-Region 3 finals.

Playing tough and smart, Canterbury edged past St. John Neumann 2-1 to win the Class 1A-Region 3 title. Anthony Meady fanned five batters, giving up just two hits and one walk in a stellar performance on the mound.

The Vikings pulled out a win in eight crazy innings to beat Calvary Christian 7-6 in Class 3A. "I do like it. I don't know what there isn't to like right now," said coach Casey Scott to the News-Press.

The Green Wave split their games with Braden River. Brady Best threw six solid innings in Fort Myers' 2-1 opening win. The Pirates bounced back with a 4-2 win, leading to Saturday's winner-take-all game.

In softball, five teams powered through regionals. Fort Myers knocked four balls out of the park in their 11-6 win over Riverdale. North Fort Myers shocked Gaither when Mia Lane smacked a three-run homer in the last inning.

Bishop Verot rolled to a 12-2 mercy-rule win against Avon Park. While Crimson Lawrence hit for the cycle, Paige Bettermann dominated from the mound.

Breaking a long dry spell, SFCA got its first FHSAA quarterfinal win since 2015 by taking down Canterbury. St. John Neumann kept winning, beating Bradenton Christian as Cecilia Spencer collected four hits.

Local players earned big postseason honors. North Fort Myers' Abigail Hynes was named Class 5A Player of the Year by the Florida Athletic Coaches Association.

Eight seniors from Evangelical Christian School signed with colleges for various sports, with Derek Washington Jr. heading to Southeastern University and Frank Worthington going to St. Thomas University.

In an impressive showing, Jesuit blanked Barron Collier twice to stay in the hunt. Wilson Andersen struck out 16 while coming up big with hits throughout the series.