Matt Wood is ready for his first season as the head coach of Milton’s softball team. The Panthers won only six of their 23 games played last season but there is reason for optimism.
A handful of key players are back, including Gracie Bonds, Hallie Ueberroth, Autumn Anderson and Alexis Hawthorne, and Wood feels good about this team’s chances of turning things around.
While a new season has arrived, what hasn’t changed for Pace’s softball team are the usual high expectations.
The Patriots went 28-2 a year ago, losing 5-1 to Bartow in the final, and look to make another run with a senior class that has appeared in three consecutive trips to state.
It’s no secret that Paxton has a homecourt advantage any time the Bobcats step on the basketball court. That was again the case on Saturday as Paxton hosted Jay in the boys District 1-1A tournament championship game.
With a handful of seconds to play, sophomore guard Sergio Robinson smiled and raised his arms in the air, motioning for the already hyped fans to get an even louder.
Oh, what a roar it triggered inside the Panther Den, the cheers filling this gym Saturday night as Milton’s boys basketball team stood on the cusp of wrapping up another chapter of this storybook season.
Madalyn Grimes held the District 1-1A trophy up so everyone could see as she and her Jay teammates continued with their celebration late Friday night.
Grimes was a proud senior, wearing a smile that said 1,000 words, hugging teammates and posing for pictures with the trophy in her hands.
The Milton Panthers found themselves in an interesting spot entering the 2023 season. They were fresh off a disappointing 6-19 campaign and were looking for a new head coach to lead the program.
Enter head coach Joey Nieves, who not only turned the team around in just his first year, but he’s led his team to a District 1-6A final appearance after a dominating 66-43 win over Niceville Thursday night.
Before awards were given out at the District 1-3A girls weightlifting meet last month in Niceville, the announcer noted the district is the best, not just in the area, but in the state as well.
That might seem like an exaggeration, but the results don’t lie when it comes to the success of girls weightlifting in Northwest Florida.
Aisley Shields nearly willed Pace’s girls basketball team to a comeback win over Gulf Breeze in a District 1-6A semifinal Wednesday night.
With the Patriots facing a 10-point (30-20) deficit in the third quarter, Shields took over.
Central is sending three athletes to the 1A state weightlifting meet next Saturday at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.
Chloe Lowery qualified for state in both Olympic and traditional in the 139-pound weightlifting class while teammates Teagan Baggett and Rilee Jean Wales will compete in traditional in the 101-pound class.
