2022 PNJ Spring All-Area: Who won Baseball Player, Hitter and Pitcher of the Year?

The PNJ Spring All-Area season has arrived as the Pensacola-area's top athletes and coaches from baseball, softball, lacrosse and more will be honored throughout the week.

Superlative winners in a different sport will be released each day through Saturday. All-Area Teams in every sport will be revealed Sunday in print and online.

Today, we take a look at our winners in baseball. Pace is well-represented following the program's march to the Class 6A state title game. Meanwhile, a Pensacola Catholic player receives some love after claiming the area's hitting triple crown.

Tomorrow, the PNJ Spring All-Area teams in all sports will be revealed.

Player of the Year/Pitcher of the Year

Walter Ford, Pace

Joining the Patriots this past season after transferring from Daphne in Alabama, the probable early-round MLB Draft pick performed as advertised. Batter after batter challenged, but very few had any luck against this right-handed flamethrower.

Sporting a mid-90s fastball with a nasty slider to boot, Ford led the Pensacola-area with 126 strikeouts. He finished 10-2 with a 1.00 ERA while relinquishing just 30 walks in a team-high 70 1/3 innings pitched.

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Voted as the Class 6A Player of the Year by a statewide panel of high school baseball coaches and the media, Ford finished fifth in the Florida Dairy Farmers Mr. Baseball award.

Now, next month's MLB Draft awaits the University of Alabama commit. "The Vanilla Missile," as he dubbed himself, shouldn't expect to wait long for his name to be called.

Hitter of the Year

Jackson Hiatt, Pensacola Catholic

Standing at 6-foot-5, the Crusaders infielder is always an intimidating presence in the batter's box. And as the stats would bear out, he spent this past spring being every pitcher's worst nightmare.

Hiatt captured the area's triple crown by producing a .487 batting average while clubbing 10 home runs and piling up 41 RBIs. Coupled with has 18 walks and 17 extra-base hits, he put up a .583 on-base percentage and an OPS of 1.557. He was held hitless in only three of 26 games this season.

His incredible showing as a senior earned Hiatt a spot on the PBR Florida All-State First Team.

With high school officially in the rear-view mirror, Hiatt will remain in the city as he has signed on to play collegiately at Pensacola State College.

Newcomer of the Year

Tanner Sauls, Pace

Ford got the headlines at the top of the rotation while junior Jackson McKenzie often came up clutch as the Patriots' No. 2 starter, but it was Sauls that solidified arguably the area's strongest staff.

The sophomore went 8-0 with a minuscule 0.68 ERA through 51.1 innings pitched. Allowing five earned runs throughout the entire season, he posted 80 strikeouts to just 12 walks.

However, Sauls' greatest value came as the team's go-to closer, recording five saves. Whenever Ford and McKenzie stumbled or reached their pitch court, it was the sophomore that was called on to close the door. And just about always, he delivered.

Coach of the Year

Jason McBride, Pace

McBride was at the controls of a squad that entered the 2022 season with loads of hype. It's easy to fall victim to the preseason praise and adulation, but the veteran coach made sure his players were prepared for every challenge whenever they stepped on the field.

Throughout the spring and particularly during the postseason, Pace played in one battle after another, but the Patriots always made the right play when it mattered. They went 11-2 in games decided by two runs or less. No situation was too large and the results followed.

Pace finished the season with a 26-4 record. The team captured district and regional titles before barely falling to Doral Academy in the Class 6A state championship game.

Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached at (850) 503-3828, on Twitter @PatBernadeau or via email at pbernadeau@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: 2022 PNJ Spring All-Area: State-bound Pace headlines award winners