Pace dominated the Region 1-3A meet Wednesday in DeLand, winning in Olympic and traditional and moving one step closer to a repeat as state champions.
Evan Beckham, Jake Box and Grant Wise were all double winners for Pace while Bryson Brown led the charge for Milton, winning a regional championship in the 154-lbs. weight class.
Payton Holland tossed his bat in the air, threw his helmet on the ground and began celebrating with his teammates.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning, Holland literally took one for the team, getting hit by a pitch as the winning run came across the plate in Central’s thrilling 3-2 win over rival Jay Thursday night.
Alex McCranie is in his second year of college baseball and has handled life at a new school well.
The Pace alum plays for Gulf Coast State after spending his freshman campaign at Lurleen B Wallace in Alabama.
Milton’s softball team was once 0-5. Twice in that stretch, the Panthers lost by 15 or more runs.
Lexi Hawthorne, the lone senior, wasn’t about to let the year continue down a hopeless road.
The last time Milton’s boys lacrosse team played against Navarre, the Panthers were overwhelmed in a 17-3 loss.
It was a different game this time as the Panthers played much closer before falling 12-6 Tuesday night at Bennett C. Russell Stadium.
Pace’s softball team knows it has a target on its back being the reigning 6A state champion.
And the Patriots were put to the test again in a game against rival Navarre Tuesday night on the road.
Jay’s softball team dominated a game against Pace in late March, rolling to a 17-6 victory over the Patriots, who are the reigning 6A state champs and a contender again this year.
The Royals aren’t so bad themselves. Ranked No. 1 in Rural, they appear to be the team to beat so far this season in their classification.
