Baseball regionals: TFA sweeps Montverde behind Ty Arafet, Kinon Bastian
Something triggered Ty Arafet in the fourth inning Saturday night during The First Academy’s Class 2A, Region 2 semifinal game against Montverde.
He found some hidden energy and suddenly, the big 6-foot-7 right-hander reared back and let loose with his cannon of an arm and he started mowing down Montverde hitters.
Aided by the cushion of a 3-0 lead, after a home run by Kinon Bastian, a wild pitch and an RBI double by Xavier Johnson in the third inning, Arafet settled into a groove and relied on his arm, and the Royals went on to win 4-1 to earn a two-game sweep in the best-of-three series. TFA will next face Lakeland Christian in the region final.
“It felt amazing, man, and I’m just grateful for being able to pitch the last four years at TFA,” Arafet said.
It could not have been a more fitting setting for Arafet. In last year’s region semifinals, he blew out his arm and required Tommy John surgery, so he had to sit and watch his teammates win the Class 2A state title a year ago.
“So it was a full-circle moment for me to come out here and pitch tonight,” said Arafet, and now he’s right back in the mix as he looks to help his team repeat last year’s state championship. “No pressure. That’s just the expectations. There’s no doubt we’re gonna go do it.”
TFA Royals beat state No. 1 Trinity for 2A baseball state title
Arafet, who sat down three straight Montverde hitters in the fourth, struck out seven before wearing down and giving way to Josh Garcia in the sixth. Garcia struck out four hitters in two innings to get the save. Jaxon Wells added an RBI double in the fifth inning.
“Ty is such a competitor, man,” TFA coach Alan Kunkel said. “He threw against Montverde in the district championship game and just struggled with his command. He’s coming off surgery but his arm strength is great and the command has been getting better each time out.
“Tonight he had that splitter as a weapon and he was able to use it. He just kind of rears back and says, ‘I’m gonna throw my pitch and if you can hit it, hit it.’ ”
Not many Montverde hitters did. Arafet allowed just two hits in the victory.
Elsewhere, Noah Adkins struck out nine Spruce Creek hitters and the Hagerty Huskies were able to get past the Hawks 2-1 and force a Game 3 of the Class 7A, Region 1 semifinal. Brendan Beldowicz had three hitless shutout innings to get the win in relief.
Xavier Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI as Winter Springs swept Wesley Chapel Cypress Creek in 5A, Region 2. Bishop Moore swept Mount Dora in 4A, Region 2, as Nate Davis went 3-for-5 with a home run, triple, three runs and three RBI.
Orangewood Christian swept Deltona Trinity Christian as Tre Roach went 2-for-3 with a double, two runs and an RBI for the Rams (23-3), Sam Lambert had two hits and two RBI, and Addison Lambert added two hits, a run and a RBI.
Orangewood will meet Mount Dora Christian in the 1A, Region 2 final. The Bulldogs had six different players hit home runs in a sweep of St. Francis. Jacob Hair was 4-for-5 with two runs, a homer and three RBI. Brody Robbins and Britton Wise each went 3-for-4 with a home run, three runs and two RBI.
Baseball Regional Semifinals
CLASS 7A REGION 1
No. 8 Lake Mary vs. No. 4 West Orange (Lake Mary leads series 1-0)
Game 1: Lake Mary 16, West Orange 9
Game 2: Lake Mary (18-9) vs. West Orange (18-11), Saturday
No. 3 Hagerty vs. No. 2 Spruce Creek, series tied 1-1
Game 1: Spruce Creek 4, Hagerty 3
Game 2: Hagerty 2, Spruce Creek 1 (10 innings)
Game 3: Hagerty (19-8) vs. Spruce Creek (26-4), Sunday, 6 p.m.
CLASS 7A REGION 3
No. 1 Vero Beach vs. No. 4 Harmony (Vero Beach wins series 2-0)
Game 1: Vero Beach 7, Harmony 0
Game 2: Vero Beach 1, Harmony 0
CLASS 6A REGION 2
No. 2 Lake Minneola vs. No. 3 Melbourne (Lake Minneola leads series 1-0)
Game 1: Lake Minneola 11, Melbourne 4
Game 2: Lake Minneola (22-5) vs. Melbourne (20-5), Saturday
CLASS 5A REGION 2
No. 1 Winter Springs vs. No. 4 Wesley Chapel Cypress Creek (Winter Springs wins series 2-0)
Game 1: Winter Springs 3, Cypress Creek 0
Game 2: Winter Springs 7, Cypress Creek 2
No. 3 Sebring vs. No. 2 Wesley Chapel (Wesley Chapel wins series 2-0)
Game 1: Wesley Chapel 13, Sebring 3
Game 2: Wesley Chapel 5, Sebring 0
CLASS 4A REGION 2
No. 1 Bishop Moore vs. No. 5 Mount Dora (Bishop Moore wins series 2-0)
Game 1: Bishop Moore 7, Mount Dora 0
Game 2: Bishop Moore 12, Mount Dora 2
No. 2 Eustis vs. No. 3 Ocala Vanguard, series tied at 1-1
Game 1: Eustis 7, Ocala Vanguard 4
Game 2: Ocala Vanguard 5, Eustis 4
Game 3: Eustis (16-13) vs. Ocala Vanguard (19-8), Sunday, 3 p.m.
CLASS 2A REGION 2
No. 1 Lakeland Christian vs. No. 4 Cocoa Beach (Lakeland Christian wins series 2-1)
Game 1: Cocoa Beach 6, Lakeland Christian 5
Game 2: Lakeland Christian 13, Cocoa Beach 3
Game 3: Lakeland Christian 3, Cocoa Beach 2
No. 2 The First Academy vs. No. 3 Montverde Academy (TFA wins series 2-0)
Game 1: The First Academy 7, Montverde 0
Game 2: The First Academy 4, Montverde 1
CLASS 1A REGION 2
No. 1 Orangewood Christian vs. No. 4 Deltona Trinity (Orangewood Christian wins series 2-0)
Game 1: Orangewood Christian 11, Deltona Trinity 1
Game 2: Orangewood Christian 7, Deltona Trinity 6
No. 2 Mount Dora Christian vs. No. 3 St. Francis Catholic (MDCA wins series 2-0)
Game 1: Mount Dora Christian 11, St. Francis 8
Game 2: Mount Dora Christian 17, St. Francis 3
Chris Hays can be found on X.com@OS_ChrisHays.
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This story was originally published May 3, 2026 at 12:54 AM.