Maybe Baker County doesn't have a favorite for the Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Softball award, or a lineup packed with blue-chip power-conference senior recruits.
Maybe, for these Wildcats, they can win it all anyway.
"There's no single player that's going to win it for us," Baker County coach Kylee Canaday said. "It's just an all-around team effort."
Forged by team spirit, the Wildcats are riding a winning wave that hasn't slowed down yet for Wednesday's Florida High School Athletic Association Class 4A softball semifinal against Plantation American Heritage at Legends Way Ball Fields in Clermont.
From the Monday night team bonding events throughout the season to the support from the fans in Glen St. Mary and Macclenny, many of them lining the streets to cheer on the bus for the postseason road trips, teamwork is the name of the game for the Wildcats.
The teamwork extends to the pitching circle for Baker County, where two pitchers — Canaday describes them as "just so resilient" — can be better than one.
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The Wildcats are winning with the junior combination of Chloe Woods, who bounced back quickly from a 2023 arm injury that led to offseason surgery, and Rylee Walker. Unlike many high school programs, it's not unusual for the two to split pitching duties, and the strategy has paid off on the stat sheet for both Woods (11-3, 1.29 ERA, 125 K) and Walker (9-1, 1.95 ERA, 68 K).
On the rare occasions when one of them encounters trouble in the circle, the other is ready to provide a change of pace. No opponent has scored more than three runs during Baker County's 10-game winning streak.
In a lineup with only two senior starters, Brooklyn Davis and Haley Marker, the young Wildcats have grown into a balanced, opportunistic unit that plays tight defense and knows how to grind out close ballgames.
"They work together great, and they constantly uplift each other," Canaday said.
The state championship experience is new for Baker County's players, who were in the early elementary school grades when Wildcats softball last played for a title. But it's not unfamiliar for Canaday, an assistant on the Wildcats team that stunned American Heritage for the state championship in 2015 in Vero Beach and returned to the final four in the following year.
"Once that first pitch is thrown," Canaday said, "it's the same game that we've been playing since we were 7."
CLASS 4A SOFTBALL SEMIFINAL
Baker County (20-5) vs. Plantation American Heritage (18-10)
When : 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Where : Legends Way Ball Fields, Clermont.
Winner meets: Eustis or LaBelle, 7 p.m. Thursday.
How they got here: Baker County defeated Yulee 7-2, South Walton 10-0, Wakulla 6-2; American Heritage defeated Riviera Beach Suncoast 1-0, Pembroke Pines Somerset Academy 12-0, Jensen Beach 3-2.
Keys to watch for Baker County: The Wildcats' lineup can attack pitchers in a multitude of ways. Sophomore Baleigh Shields at third base wields the hot bat right now, batting .468 with seven doubles, four home runs and 23 RBI. Also dangerous at the plate are Haley Marker (.422, 3 HR), Masyn Barlow (.324, 3 HR) and Karis Richardson (.284, 8 2B). But in the big picture, Baker County is build on its pitching. Only one team, West Nassau, has scored more than three runs on the Wildcats all year.
Keys to watch for American Heritage: Barely above .500 in early April, American Heritage has caught fire down the stretch. The Patriots' batting order includes six hitters at .320 or better, including Analie Diaz (.419, 3 HR, 27 RBI) and Bria Villano (.412, 2 HR, 19 RBI). Pitcher Koda Travers (15-7, 2.30 ERA) strikes out more than a batter per inning but can be walk-prone (68 in 131 IP).
They said it : "The kids just step up, and everybody's ready to go when their number is called." -- Baker County coach Kylee Canaday.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: 'All-around team effort': Teamwork boosts Baker County for FHSAA softball semifinals
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