- May 10, 2025
For the first time in six seasons, Matanzas will host a regional softball game on its home field.
The Pirates, ranked second in the state in Class 5A with a 21-1 record, will host Ponte Vedra at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 8, in a Region 1-5A quarterfinal playoff game.
It will be the second game in a row these two teams have played. Matanzas shellacked Ponte Vedra 12-1 in the District 4-5A championship game on May 1 at Beachside High School.
The win was cause for a double celebration. It was Sabrina Manhart’s 100th victory in her seven years as the Matanzas head softball coach. And the Pirates won their first district championship since 2022 when current seniors Leah Stevens and Ashley Sampselle were freshmen playing on the varsity team.
The Pirates traveled to Gulf Breeze — an 840-mile round trip — for last year’s regional quarterfinal. They missed the playoffs in 2023. In 2022, they hosted Paxon School of Jacksonville at Daytona State College while their own field was being refurbished. In 2021, they defeated Gainesville in the regional quarterfinals and fell to Middleburg in the semifinals. Both games were on the road. The 2020 season was suspended due to COVID.
The last time Matanzas played on its home field in the playoffs was in 2019 when the Pirates lost to Melbourne in the regional quarterfinals.
This season, Matanzas is seeded second in the region behind No. 1 Niceville, which is also the top-ranked team in Class 5A. Niceville (18-6) edged out Matanzas for the top ranking due to strength of schedule.
If the Pirates defeat Ponte Vedra, they will host Middleburg or Milton in a Region 1-5A semifinal on May 13. If Niceville and Matanzas each win their next two games they will meet in the regional final for a spot in the Class 5A state semifinals.
Any team with hopes of beating Matanzas will have to stifle the Pirates’ bats, because it will not likely get much help at the plate against Stevens. The University of Florida signee is undefeated in the pitching circle with a 15-0 record and has allowed just five earned runs in 87.2 innings (0.40 earned run average). She has 204 strikeouts while allowing just 26 hits and eight walks.
Stevens is having her finest season to cap off a stellar career with the Pirates. She had a 1.69 ERA with 129 strikeouts in 66.1 innings as a freshman. After missing her sophomore season because of a blood clot, she came back last year to post an 11-4 record with a 0.87 ERA while striking out 196 batters in 88.2 innings.
Stevens did not pitch in the Pirates’ lone loss this year — 10-6 to Palatka on March 13. The Pirates have won 13 straight since then.
Shortstop Juliet Fogel, who has signed with St. Johns River State College, leads Matanzas at the plate with a .467 batting average, 10 extra-base hits — including three home runs — and 21 RBIs. Leadoff hitter McKenzie Manhart is batting .450 with 29 runs, and Ruby Fogel is batting .403 with 21 runs and 13 RBIs.
