Buchholz Baseball Prepares for Another State Run

Buchholz baseball, state runners-up the past two seasons, look to finally win it all this year.

The Bobcats closed last season ranked No. 31 nationally and No. 15 in Florida. This year, they secured the No. 17 spot in Prep Baseball’s 2026 Florida High School Preseason poll. 

Buchholz lost seven seniors from last season’s 33-3 team. Among them were J.J. Gardner, who led the team in home runs (8) and slugging percentage (.719) and Wyatt Clarke, who had the best ERA on the team (1.33, 7-1 record).

“We lost some key pieces last year, but we’ve had guys plug in to a point where we’re not going to see much drop-off in those positions,” coach Chris Malphurs said. 

Malphurs is transitioning from third base coach to the head coach this season after replacing Ron Brooks, who retired in the spring after 15 seasons and a 267-125 record. Malphurs has 16 years of coaching experience, many of those at North Central Florida schools: Santa Fe in Alachua, Gainesville High and Ocala. 

Buchholz will use the deep 2025 roster to its advantage going into this season by playing nine seniors, seven of whom have signed to play Division 1 or junior college ball.

“They expect to win. They know how to win. They know how to compete at a high level,” Malphurs said. 

With a large senior group and many veteran players, the Bobcats don’t have captains. 

Collaboration and team chemistry are top priorities. They are a tight-knit group and use that as leverage when they hit the diamond. 

“That’s like one of our main things that we think is going to help us go all the way this year,” senior Aiden Kastensmidt said of the team chemistry.

Senior Blake Brewer also emphasized the strong bond.

 “We’ve all been playing together since we were little. Everybody is pretty good friends, even outside of baseball,” Brewer said. 

The main thing the Bobcats want to improve on this season is keeping opponent’s runners from scoring.

 “Our times to home off the mound. We struggled there last year, stopping the run game,” Malphurs said. They allowed five or more runs in each of their three losses last season.

But the Bobcats were strong at the plate last season, tallying 262 runs, more than twice the national average of 124.

They are hungry for a state title with the way the cards have fallen the last two seasons. Handling adversity has been a common theme. 

“Last year we went into the state championship and kind of got thrown around a little bit. So, to be able to bounce back from that (on improving from last season),” Brewer said.

The Bobcats know they’ll get every opponent’s best effort as they attempt another deep-postseason run.

“The bull’s eye is definitely on our chest,” Malphurs said.

Buchholz opens the regular season at the Tallahassee Chile Timberwolves at 6 p.m. Tuesday. It will play its home opener Feb. 12 vs. the Columbia Tigers.

But first, Buchholz will host the two-day Bobcat Invitational Preseason Classic at Bobcat Park. The Bobcats play Columbia at 7 p.m. Friday and Arnold (Panama City Beach) at noon Saturday.

Category: Baseball, Buchholz High School, Gainesville, High School Sports