By: Henry Weitz

The 2026 Ponte Vedra High School (PVHS) boys baseball season has begun and the boys began their first week with an away game at Oakleaf High School (OHS) against the Knights on Feb. 11. Junior pitcher and Davidson College commit, CJ McKenzie took the mound for game one against the Knights.The Shark’s bats began hot as a designated hitter, Storm Lickliter RBI single scored junior second baseman, Noah Wozniak. Catcher, Steele Lickliter was able to score junior outfielder, Maddox Tepper with an infield error resulting in Steele reaching base. The Lickliter twins put the Sharks at 2-0 in the top of the first. In the bottom of the first, McKenzie walked two, hit one batter, but luckily struck out three to finish the first. In the top of the second, Tepper walked in junior outfielder, Logan Hunt and Storm Lickliter walked in third baseman, Lang to increase the lead to 4-0 Sharks. In the bottom of the second, McKenzie walked in two batters and the Knights climbed to a 4-2 deficit, but McKenzie struck out three batters to end the inning. In the third inning, Candella took his base after a hit-by-pitch and scored Salvati and PVHS struck back 5-2. McKenzie swiftly struck out the side to end the third. OHS put in a new pitcher and the Sharks were unable to score in the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth, McKenzie had worked his pitch count up to 91 so the Sharks put in sophomore pitcher, Max Hydell. Hydell got to work and ended the fourth with no runs scored. PVHS was unable to get anything going in the top of the fifth. The Knights found their spark with a 2 RBI single which made the score 5-4, but Steele Lickliter threw out the runner at second to end the fifth inning. In the top of the sixth, the Shark’s offense continued to stall as they had two strikeouts and no hits. Hydell gave up an RBI double followed by two RBI singles and the Knights took the lead at 7-5. Junior pitcher, Evan Long came in for Hydell and struck out the last OHS batter to end the sixth. Steele Lickliter got the offense started in the seventh with a HBP and junior infielder, Stuart Streva came in to pinch run. Streva stole second, and then he stole third during a deep Salvati fly-out. Streva scored during Hunt’s at bat off of a catcher error, 7-6 Knights. Lang struck out looking and Hunt got picked off at first to end the game for the Sharks. PVHS will travel to West Nassau High School for their next game on Feb. 12. 

• CJ McKenzie (3.0 IP, 1 Hit, 2 Runs, 6 BB, 1 HBP, 9 K’s)
• Noah Wozniak ( 1/1 Hitting, 3 BB, 1 SB)
• Stuart Streva (1 run, 2 SB)

PVHS took on the West Nassau High School (WNHS) Warriors away on Feb 12. This was the Sharks second regular season game and they hoped to recover with a win after a heartbreak to Oakleaf High School. Starting pitcher, Mracek threw the first four innings for PVHS and he gave up five runs to the Warriors. Only one run was actually earned by Mracek and the other four were as a result of infield fielding errors by the Sharks. In the top of the fourth, PVHS struck first with a sophomore shortstop, Jackson Miller hit an RBI sac-fly scoring one run, and Storm Lickliter scored off of a balk by the Warrior pitcher. In the top of the sixth, the Sharks scored again with a sac-bunt from Streva which scored Miller. A Tepper RBI single scored junior infielder, Logan Kearney from third base. Tepper then came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and the bottom of the seventh where he gave up one run. The Sharks fell 6-4 to the Warriors, which made the team 0-2 on the season. PVHS will host Pedro Menendez High School on Feb. 13 for the Sharks home opener. 

• Max Mracek (4.0 IP, 2 Hits, 5 Runs, 3 BB, 6 K’s)
• Storm Lickliter (2/3 Double, Single, HBP, 1 Run)

On Feb. 13, PVHS took on Pedro Menendez High School (PMHS) Falcons for the Sharks home opener and third consecutive game. The Sharks had just dropped their second game of the year to the Warriors the night prior. PVHS started off strong with Storm Lickliter scoring Tepper, and Salvati scored Candella on a fielder’s choice where Ritter was forced out at second base. The Sharks went up 2-0 early. In the bottom of the second the Sharks earned another two runs on a freshman Robert Kelly bun which scored Miller and a junior outfielder, Jack Sproull sac-fly scored Streva. The Sharks were up 4-0. Again in the bottom of the third Storm Lickliter doubled and Ritter was able to score from first on a fielder error to boost PVHS to a 5-0 score. Later in the bottom of the fifth, Hunt and Candella scored off a wild pitch and the Sharks extended the lead to 7-0. Storm Lickliter not only went 2/2 hitting but also shoved 6.2 innings only allowing 5 hits and 2 walks, while tossing 10 strikeouts. Storm Lickliter opened the season strong slashing a .600 batting average in three games. PVHS starts the year 2-1 in their first three and has a big matchup against Tocoi Creek High School on Feb. 17. Storm Lickliter said, “We didn’t show it this week but we know we can beat good teams like Tocoi Creek and that next game is going to be a big test for us”

The Sharks have ten seniors including Luke Goerge, Steele Lickliter, James Salvati, Caden Ritter, Carter Lang, Luca Candella, Conor McCarthy, Evan Rubocki, Max Mracek, and Storm Lickliter. Of the ten, five boys have committed to play baseball in college. Steele and Storm Lickliter will play at College of Central Florida in Ocala, Ritter will play at St. Vincent College in Pennsylvania, Salvati will play at Oglethorpe University in Georgia, and Mracek will play ball at New College of Florida in Sarasota. 

Pictured: Storm Lickliter (12) on the mound pitching @fenneysflics