With the ups and downs of the regular season in the rear-view mirror, area teams now gear up for the district tournament, harboring hopes of playing beyond the first week of May.
Baseball and softball teams from Navarre, Pace, Milton, Jay and Central are all in action this week, starting with opening round action Monday night.
Playing on the road against an unbeaten team in the opening round of the Region 1-2A tournament didn’t bother Pace’s flag football team.
Neither did the fact that the fourth-seeded Patriots trailed fifth-seeded Winter Park by a touchdown after one quarter of play.
In between sets of reps, a group of Pace track athletes are having fun, keeping things light-hearted in practice.
But when the whistle blows, it’s all business. The Patriots here on a sunny Wednesday afternoon are full go as they shoot off the blocks and sprint hard down the track.
Evan Fitterer had a successful Double-A debut. He threw six scoreless innings, allowing only one hit as the Pensacola Blue Wahoos defeated Montgomery 5-0.
Jackson McDonald heads up a group of regional qualifiers for the Milton Panthers.
McDonald, a senior, is coming off a District 1-3A meet in Fort Walton Beach two weeks ago where he hit a new personal-best mark in the pole vault with a height of 13-feet-3 1/2 inches.
Houston Younce started throwing the discus because of his older brother, who was one of the first to ever throw at Central.
“He did really well and I got into it because of him. And I don’t have to run,” Younce said with a laugh. “I enjoy throwing it.”
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.
