No words could comfort Joeseph Skipworth in the wake of a crushing loss to Buchholz in the finale of the Region 1-6A championship series Saturday night.
He was in tears. His teammates were as well. A 5-4, eight-inning defeat to the top-ranked Bobcats in a win-or-go-home Game 3 in Pace ended the Patriots’ dream of a state final four bid.
A trip to state is on the line Saturday when Pace and Buchholz square off in the third game of a best-of-three Region 1-6A championship series.
The Patriots and Bobcats split their first two games and now play a win-or-go-home battle at 2 p.m. in Pace. It’s a matchup between the top two teams in the state.
Milton’s softball team kept the No. 3 team in the state off the scoreboard for five innings in its Region 1-5A quarterfinal on the road Thursday night.
The Panthers held a 1-0 lead until the sixth, when the Broncos scored five times and took control in a 5-1 win that ends Milton’s season.
With two outs and a two-run lead – Kamryn Pierce had crushed a home run moments earlier – Abby McLean stepped up to the plate and sent a ball over the left field fence.
Just like that, the Patriots were up three runs on Fletcher in a Region 1-6A softball quarterfinal.
West Florida Baptist’s baseball team has claimed the Panhandle Christian Conference championship for third time in program history.
But it wasn’t easy. The Conquerors needed extra innings to get the job done, rallying for a 10-9 victory on Tuesday.
Former Pace softball star Jayden Heavener is in contention for the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division I Freshman of the Year.
Heavener is one of two LSU players on the list, which originally featured 25 players but was narrowed to 10 last Thursday.
Central and Pace are both sending athletes to the FHSAA state track and field meet in Jacksonville.
The 3A meet is scheduled for May 9 at the University of North Florida while the 1A meet is set for May 10.
New Milton head football coach Ronnie Douglas said he could hardly sleep the night before his team took the field late last month for the first spring practice of 2025.
He said it went well and likes the way things are going so far for the Panthers.
Brady Godwin shared hugs with several of his teammates after the Royals’ season ended Tuesday night with a 3-1 loss to top-ranked Holmes County in Game 2 of a best-of-three Rural Regional final series.
A year ago, Godwin and the Royals won a state championship, the program’s first in more than a half century.
