The Panthers MUST win for a shot at the top seed in the district tournament. They MUST to win to sustain Florida Star Conference title hopes that brightened considerably when St. Augustine took it on the chin Monday from Palatka and Tuesday from Orange Park.
Tonight is it for conference play.
It isn't the final regular-season district game, but it might as well be if Palatka loses. Palatka's top two starting pitchers are available. On the other hand, the Ridgeview game was way back on Feb. 25 and Palatka needed extra innings for a 6-5 win at Clay March 7. Furthermore, the top seed bats as the home team as long as it stays alive, even though Middleburg is hosting the district tournament. Then again, if the Panthers don't beat Middleburg tonight, they would do well to remember that Palatka swept the Broncos in the regular season the last two seasons, only to be eliminated by them in the district tournament.