Sports Archive

Jay and Pace both got rolling with regional softball tournament on Wednesday night.


The Royals edged Chipley 3-2 in a Rural Region 1 semifinal while Pace rolled past Nease 9-0 in a Region 1-6A quarterfinal.

Drew Groff points out one of the main reasons Pace has excelled in boys weightlifting.


“Being on a team like Pace, every practice is like this (a postseason meet),” Groff said. “We push each other as hard in practice as we do in meets. We give 110% every time.”

Jay’s baseball team made it to the regional tournament this year, but its bid to advance ended with a Rural Region 1 semifinal series loss to Holmes County on May 2.

Pace and Milton both had athletes fare well enough at the Region 1-3A meet May 2 to qualify for the FHSAA state meet.

At the Region 1-1A track and field meet on May 1 at Pine Forest, a handful of athletes from the area did well enough to secure a bid to state.

It’s FHSAA state weightlifting time for lifters in Santa Rosa County.


The 3A teams will compete on Thursday while 1A competitors hit the platform on Friday.

Emory Allen and his Pace teammates took a few moments to savor the thrill of sweeping Tocoi Creek and moving one step closer to an appearance in the state final four.


The Patriots put their best foot forward in a best-of-three Region 1-6A semifinal series against the Toros on a sunny Saturday in May, earning a 12-2 run-rule win in Game 1 and topping Tocoi 7-2 in the finale.

Three softball teams from the area are headed to the regional tournament.


Pace, Milton and Jay have all earned the right to play in the postseason, which begins May 7.

After beating Paxton 14-0 in the semifinal round of the Rural District 1 tournament, Jay faced off against Northview for the championship on Thursday but fell 7-0 to the Chiefs.

Kamryn Pierce wasn’t sure if the ball she hit hard and high in the air in the bottom of the fifth inning of a District 1-6A championship game on Thursday night was going to clear the fence.


She certainly hoped it would. But…