District baseball tournaments begin next week

Erick Lasseter and the Union County Tigers earned the number-one seed in the District 6-Rural tournament. Union is the top team in the Florida High School Athletic Association/MaxPreps Rural Class power rankings.

Bradford, Keystone Heights and Union County high schools will participate in district baseball tournaments next week, with Keystone and Union getting to host their first games.

Union (16-7) is the top seed in the District 6-Rural tournament and has a first-round bye. The following quarterfinal games will take place on Monday, April 13: seventh seed Fort White (4-19) at second seed Lafayette (12-8), sixth seed Hawthorne (11-8) at third seed Branford (13-7) and fifth seed Taylor County (7-13) at fourth seed Hilliard (10-15).

The Tigers will host the winner between Hilliard and Taylor County in a semifinal game on Tuesday, April 14, at 7 p.m.

If Union wins, it will host the district championship on Thursday, April 16, at 7 p.m. The Tigers will play Lafayette, Branford, Hawthorne or Fort White.

Keystone (7-16) is the fourth seed in the District 4-2A tournament and will host fifth seed Interlachen (4-13) in a quarterfinal game on Tuesday, April 14, at 7 p.m. Third seed P.K. Yonge (15-8) will host sixth seed Crescent City (10-13) in another quarterfinal game.

If the Indians win, they’ll travel to Ocala to play top seed Trinity Catholic (18-5) in a semifinal game on Wednesday, April 15, at 7 p.m. If Keystone wins that, it’ll play for the championship on Friday, April 17, at 7 p.m. The Indians would travel if the other semifinal winner is either P.K. Yonge or second seed Newberry (16-6). Keystone would host if Crescent City comes out of the other semifinal bracket.

Bradford (8-14) is the third seed in the District 5-3A tournament and will travel to Alachua to play second seed Santa Fe (8-16) in a semifinal game on Tuesday, April 17, at 7 p.m. Top seed Palatka (18-6) will host fourth seed Eastside (1-23) in the other semifinal game.

If the Tornadoes win, they’ll play for the championship on Thursday, April 16, at 7 p.m., traveling to play Palatka or hosting Eastside.