Bethany Dean snags the ball on a hard-hit line out to the middle of the infield and smiles as she makes a play that punctuates a shutout win over rival Milton at home on a Friday night in late April.
That win is the 21st of the year for the top-ranked Patriots, who are on course to contend for a 6A state championship once again.
Two sets of state baseball tournament medals hang on a wall inside Jason McBride’s office.
Those medals represent past success. As for the present, well, the Pace head coach loves the way this team has set itself up to potentially add to the collection in May.
Central’s Chloe Lowery and Houston Younce both won district championships at the District 1-1A meet last Thursday in Jay.
Lowery prevailed with the top time in the 200, clocking in at 28.22. She was third in the 100 (13.44).
Pace’s bid to repeat as District 1-6A champions was halted last Wednesday night as the Patriots lost 20-14 to Chiles in the title game in Tallahassee.
Though the Patriots were the top seed in the district, they had to travel rather than host due to a previous agreement to play the district tourney semifinals and final at Leon.
Maeson Otwell wasn’t sure what to expect at the Adidas Nationals in Missouri. He knew he was more than capable of performing at a high level.
But a championship?
Landyn Cooley of Jay made a big jump in the boys weightlifting world this year.
Seventh a season ago at the 1A state meet, Cooley came back stronger than ever this year and earned a third-place finish in the Olympic competition at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland Saturday. Cooley came through with a total lift of 545 pounds.
There is a point in the season where sports teams have lulls. That appeared to be the case last Friday for the Milton Panthers as they fell to the Walton Braves, 13-9.
Milton senior ace Braiden Dykes took the mound for the Panthers and dominated early, sitting the first three Braves batters down in order.
Milton and Pace have two of the best boys weightlifting programs in Florida.
That statement still rings true today, carrying more of a punch than it did prior to the weekend after the Panthers and Patriots produced an impressive showing of strength and mental toughness at the FHSAA 3A state meet Saturday at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.
Berkleigh Jernigan has become quite the playmaker for Pace’s flag football team. She reminded everyone of that last Wednesday night against Navarre in the final game of the regular season.
Not once, not twice, but three times the standout athlete caught a touchdown pass and helped propel the eighth-ranked Patriots to a 33-0 win over rival Navarre on the road at Bennett C. Russell Stadium.
Colin Goodman remembers back to the early days of his high school career at Milton, those days when the wins weren’t as easy to come by as they are now.
Goodman, along with J Grimsley, were two of the original players for a Panther boys lacrosse program that has put together its best season in program history, and Goodman fully appreciates the progress that has been made.
