Arnold will face American Heritage in the Class 4A state semifinal in Fort Myers on May 19
Arnold will face American Heritage in the Class 4A state semifinal in Fort Myers on May 19.
Arnold (27-7) will face American Heritage in the Class 4A state semifinals.The Marlins overcame early season struggles to win their first regional title.Florida commits Cooper Moss and Eli Blair lead Arnold’s pitching staff.
The Arnold baseball team is set to face American Heritage in the Class 4A state semifinals at 7 p.m. Monday, May 19. The road to Fort Myers hasn’t been easy, especially early in the season, when the Marlins’ hopes seemed to hang in the balance.
Mid-March, the team sat at 7-5, reeling from its third straight loss and fourth in six games, a stark contrast to the 16-game win streak that opened the previous season.
To make matters worse, the next two opponents loomed large: Marist (Ga.), a 14-time state champion, followed by Providence School of Jacksonville, a three-time state champ.
The next 48 hours carried significant weight for coach Chris Jones, who said the outcome of those two games could define the course of the season. The Marlins responded, edging Marist 1-0 in eight innings and knocking off Providence 4-2. That momentum sparked a run of 14 wins in 15 games, capped by a 6-1 victory over Wakulla to claim the Class 4A District 2 title.
“It seemed to be something that helped us turn the corner and we took our lumps early, but we didn’t stop playing good teams,” Jones said. “We had a really tough schedule all year to put us through a gauntlet, so I believe we won’t be in awe of the teams down in Fort Myers.”
Arnold (27-7) received the No. 1 seed in the region tournament and then won three best-of-three series, defeating Fort Walton Beach, Choctawhatchee and Clay to capture the first regional title in program history. The Marlins have had their sights set on Fort Myers for years, led by a group of seniors who’ve been key contributors since their freshman season.
It starts at the top with star pitchers Cooper Moss and Eli Blair. The Florida commits have a combined 14-4 record and 200 strikeouts this season. Blair, who threw his first career no-hitter in the first round against Fort Walton, is ready to be on the other side of the previous season’s playoff defeats.
“The mindset stays the same, don’t make the game too big, go out there, compete and do what we’ve done all year,” Blair said. “Why not go out there and be a dog, get those strikeouts, get those runs across, be a teammate and be a great player.”
Moss threw a no-hitter to complete the sweep of Fort Walton Beach and has been an offensive spark since arriving on the Arnold campus. This season senior etched his name in the Bay County record book as the only baseball player to notch 300 career strikeouts and 20 home runs.
The team’s success and the chance to cap his final season with a state title mean everything.
“We’ve worked hard in the offseason for years and were super excited to go down there, take it all in and enjoy it,” Moss said. “I’m going to keep with the same routine, working out, throwing the right schedule, and getting a bullpen in to make sure all my stuff is working.”
Pitching has long been Arnold’s backbone, but the offense has kept the Marlins alive in high-pressure moments in 2025. Seniors Austin Hendrix (.360) and Josh Lindsey (.312), both committed to Gulf Coast State, have delivered in the clutch, especially Lindsey, whose home run against Clay punched the ticket to the Final Four. The pair also adds speed, combining for 42 stolen bases.
“We have everything we need to beat anyone, good pitching with Cooper and Eli, we just have to make sure our bats are on time,” Lindsey said. “With the batting cages and everybody putting work in for the week before the game, the bats will be pretty good down there.”
The Marlins’ bats will need to stay hot against an elite American Heritage pitching staff, featuring college-bound arms like Mark Aleman (Barry), Dylan Dubovik (Miami), Talan Holiday (North Carolina) and Caden Garro (Flagler).
“If our guys can pitch and keep us in the game, their guys will do the same, so it will come down to an execution game and we have been pretty good at executing the last two to three months,” Jones said.
Banji Bamidele is a sports reporter for the Panama City News Herald. He can be reached at abamidele@gannett.com or through X, formerly known as Twitter, @AdebanjiBamide1.