Pace defensive lineman Brandon Beckham faced an uncertain future in football. A sharp pain shot through his knee during his sophomore year of weightlifting.
He sought out medical advice hoping to get it figured out.
Cam Bennett made a comment after his latest MMA bout that he doesn’t get paid by the hour.
An hour wasn’t necessary. He took care of business in 45 seconds in a Main Event at Island Fights in the Pensacola Bay Center last month. It was another impressive win for a fighter who might not look intimidating, but put in him the ring and he gets the job done more often than not.
Ava Johnson’s volleyball career didn’t get off to the best start.
The newly minted Central grad started playing the sport in middle school, but battled injuries in those early days. She broke her foot in seventh grade and her arm in eighth grade.
Ricky Henderson becomes the fastest to 50 stolen bases in a Major League Baseball season on June 1, 1982. He hit the mark by stealing two bases in Oakland’s 3-2 win over Boston.
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos edged Biloxi 3-2 Wednesday in Mississippi.
Down 4-3 in the eighth, Will Banfield put the Blue Wahoos back in business with a game-tying home run. Norel Gonzalez then hit a homer to put Pensacola ahead for good.
Pace nearly won a 6A state softball championship last week, falling 5-1 to Bartow in the championship game.
It was the third consecutive year the Patriots made the state tourney, and their first trip to the final since winning it all in 2007. The good news for Pace is a number of key players will be back in 2024, including one of the nation’s top pitchers in Jayden Heavener, an LSU commit.
There is a banner on the outfield fence that highlights the state championship Jay won a year ago in softball.
There are also banners that note the district, regional and state final four trips the Royals have made over the years, but no three-year stretch has been a more impressive program than the one that ended last week.
Lily Priddy isn’t done weightlifting yet. Next up is the college level, where the Milton standout will head to Georgia to compete for Brewton-Parker.
She’s looking forward to the opportunity, but also knows a lot of work is ahead for her as she takes a step up in competition.
They received their runner-up medals and trophy, fought back tears, and did their best to deal with the pain of having a state championship dream ripped away.
Here in Clermont on the final Saturday of May, the Pace Patriots chasing the program’s first softball title in nearly two decades, a storybook ending wasn’t in the cards for a team that made it its mission to finish the year on top of the 6A softball world.
Shelby McKenzie took a breath. Locked in. And swung her bat.
What resulted was a three-run home run to center that, while not the official ‘game over’ moment for Pace, it was the turning point for the Patriots in their 6A state semifinal showdown with Land O’ Lakes Friday at the Legends Way Ball Fields in Clermont.
