Southwest Florida boasts 7 FACA District 18 Baseball Players of the Year, 6 Coaches of the Year

Eight baseball players from Southwest Florida and six coaches earned Florida Athletic Coaches Association District 18 postseason honors.

The area boasted seven players of the year in Classes 2A-7A, including Seacrest Country Day's Andrew Geiger (2A), Canterbury's Bryce Einstein (3A), Southwest Florida Christian Academy's Jovan Gill, Bishop Verot's Daniel Blitz (4A), Gateway's Sergio Alfaro (4A), LaBelle's Tyler Nesbitt (5A), Mariner's Jimmy Meredith (6A) and Gulf Coast's Tobey McDonough (7A).

Geiger, a senior right-handed pitcher and infielder, led the Stingrays to an 18-9 record and a Class 2A-District 6 championship. Seacrest coach Mark Marsala won FACA District 18 Coach of the Year honors and will guide his club into a regional semifinal Tuesday at home against Lakeland Victory Christian.

Einstein, a Lipscomb recruit, sports a 6-3 record with an 0.85 ERA and 38 strikeouts over 41 innings for the 23-5 Cougars.

Class 3A District 18 Co-Player of the Year Gill, a junior, is hitting .500 with seven home runs, 38 RBIs and 23 runs scored for the district runner-up Kings. SFCA coach JW Wilkerson's club went 20-7 and will travel to Sarasota to play Out-of-Door Academy in a regional semifinal Tuesday.

Class 4A also had Co-Players of the Year with Blitz and Alfaro. Blitz, a junior, is hitting at a .443 clip with 14 stolen bases and 23 runs scored for Coach of the Year Austin Flores' 13-13 Vikings, who were district runners-up and face Delray Beach American Heritage on the road in a regional semifinal Tuesday.

Alfaro, a senior infielder, put 18-11 Gateway on his back this season, batting .512 with two home runs, 23 RBIs, 41 runs scored and a .756 slugging percentage. 

Nesbitt, a University of Florida signee, guided LaBelle to a 14-9 record and a district runner-up finish. Jeff Burton earned 5A District 18 Coach of the Year honors.

Meredith, a Maryville College signee, is hitting .432 with 14 RBIs and 29 runs scored to go with seven wins and a 1.17 ERA and 63 strikeouts over 48 innings. Tom Woodley was the Coach of the Year in 5A District 18 after leading Mariner to a district title. Mariner will host Lely in a regional quarterfinal on Wednesday.

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McDonough, a senior, tossed 21 innings thus far for Gulf Coast, not giving up an earned run and striking out 32.

Lehigh's Erik Manning took home 7A District 18 Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Lightning to an 11-15 record.

Nesbitt, Riverdale's Carson Palmquist, Island Coast's Chase Chatman, Bishop Verot's Matt Powell, and Canterbury's Cooper Weiss were selected to play in the FACA All-Star Baseball Classic on May 26-28 in Lakeland.

Follow News-Press sports writer Adam Regan on Twitter: @NP_AdamRegan