Girls roundup: Gulf Breeze, Jay, Pace, WFHS softball win districts, Pace flag football advances
Here's a girls roundup of district softball and regional flag football games involving area teams from Thursday, May 5, 2022.
Softball
District 1-5A Final
No. 2 Gulf Breeze 6, No. 1 Milton
Behind an advantageous start and a starting pitcher who was clutch in big moments, the Dolphins can once again celebrate a district championship.
Gulf Breeze defeated the Panthers on Thursday during the District 1-5A title game from Pine Forest High School. After stumbling through 2019 with an 8-17 record, the Dolphins have won district championships each of the last two years.
“I love this team with my whole heart,” Gulf Breeze head coach Chelsea McGehee said. “They’re just so special. And the amount of teamwork that it took tonight to be successful and work in our favor was incredible. Every single person played a role tonight.”
Milton was the top team in the district while the Dolphins were seeded second and improved their record to 15-11 overall. Gulf Breeze is a perfect 8-0 against district opponents this season, including three wins against the Panthers.
Benefitting from a number of errors from its opponent, the No. 2 seed knocked in two runs in the top of the first inning, three more in the second and held Milton (12-8) scoreless until Laila Manning hit a two-run, opposite field home run in the seventh.
Gulf Breeze will host a regional quarterfinal next Thursday. Meanwhile, the Panthers play the waiting game to see if their season continues.
The four highest-ranked teams in each region that did not win a district title are granted an at-large bid. Entering the night, Milton was ranked fourth among squads in Region 1-5A. Rankings are recalculated after the district tournaments are concluded.
“I’m not going to take anything away from Gulf Breeze, they’re a good team,” Panthers head coach Kirstyn Joiner said. “I think errors caused us to get flat and kind of set the tone for the game. We just couldn’t get anything going with our bats and sometimes that happens. Fortunately, we still should be able to move forward.”
Here are three takeaways from Thursday’s District 1-5A Final:
Early run support
McGehee has lamented over her team’s offensive ineptitude during stretches of the season. That’s with good reason.
Gulf Breeze has either been shut out or held to a single run in eight of its 11 losses this season. The team didn’t have to worry about that after creating an early cushion.
“All season, our motto has been when our offense works, that supports the defense which supports the pitcher,” McGehee said. “It’s all just a flow and when we get momentum, we keep it. And they did that tonight. They executed the plan we’ve been working so hard on all year long.”
The Dolphins pulled ahead in the first when Kaylee King scored from first base after Jacey Reed ripped a ground ball down the line in left for an RBI double. Three of their next four runs were scored off of errors, handing starting pitcher Leila Ammon a 5-0 lead after an inning and a half.
“It definitely allowed our pitcher to relax,” McGehee said. “Leila did a great job tonight and she came up huge. But she’s able to get out there and use all of her stuff rather than having all of the pressure on her. It also allows our defense to relax a little bit. That’s huge when you get momentum like that to start with, you just have to find a way to keep it.”
‘It really does feel good to win for her’
Ammon didn’t have her A-plus stuff, but she was sharp enough to keep one of the area’s best power-hitting teams at bay.
The sophomore conceded two runs on one hit, four walks and a hit batter through six-plus innings of work. She finished with 11 strikeouts.
“It feels really good,” Ammon said. “I’m proud of us, I’m proud of everything that we’ve done. It feels good to help the team out.”
Ammon was particularly at her best when Milton appeared ready to slice into Gulf Breeze’s lead. The Panthers produced runners on the corners with no outs in the second, but the sophomore promptly beared down and whiffed the next three batters to retire the side.
Later, Ammon relinquished a leadoff walk to Kamille Lucas to open the fifth. Lucas reached third during the next at-bat following a stolen base and passed ball, but the Dolphins hurler was clutch again. She retired the next three Panthers in order to exit the frame unscathed.
“I just think about going after the batter instead of the runner,” Ammon said. “Since we had that big of a lead, it helps the team out more to focus on one out rather than a run.”
The sophomore was effective in getting Milton to chase with her outside dropball and her changeup. Although she failed to record an out against three batters in the seventh, Ammon gave more than enough against an offense that had some success against Gulf Breeze, scoring six and eight respectively in their two regular-season meetings.
She was not in the circle when the Dolphins emerged with a 9-8 win over the Panthers on April 19 as she was managing an arm injury. Ammon has since recovered to vault her team to a district title. Just as important to her, the sophomore was able to do it with older sister and senior outfielder Olivia Ammon along on the ride.
“It was kind of stressful, but it’s very fun and exciting because again I’m helping my team out win. It’s a big thing (to win) with my sister, who is a senior,” Leila Ammon said. “It really does feel good to win for her.”
Uncharacteristic mistakes
On the other end of that stress, the Panthers were out of sorts with a rough start, defensively.
The team committed four errors in the first two frames and six errors overall.
“They probably had a little bit of nerves,” Joiner said. “They wanted to win pretty badly, so I’m sure nerves got to them a little bit. But we know what kind of team we are and those errors, that’s not usually how we play. Like I said, it kind of set the tone for us there and it just didn’t seem like we could overcome the deficit.”
Gulf Breeze’s only error started the seventh. Manning immediately made the Dolphins pay by hammering a ball over the fence in right-centerfield. When Lucas followed with a walk, the Panthers finally appeared settled offensively against Leila Ammon, but it was too little, too late.
Reed entered in relief and closed the deal.
“I think our pitch selection got a little bit better there towards the end. I think we were chasing a lot of balls; we were swinging at things in the dirt, things over our head,” Joiner said. “We finally zoned in a little bit and were finally slowing their minds down and were able to see the ball a lot better.”
District 1-6A Final
No. 1 Pace 1, No. 2 Niceville 0
Jayden Heavener has tossed several no-hitters during her spectacular sophomore campaign, but none were as important as the one on Thursday.
The left-handed pitcher didn't yield a hit during the Patriots' district-championship triumph at home over the Eagles. It's Heavener's eighth no-hitter of 2022. She tossed 110 pitches (67 strikes), conceding four walks while striking out 14.
Niceville hurler Audrey Schumacher was effective in keeping the Patriots off the scoreboard. That was until Haylee High stepped to the plate in the bottom of the sixth. The senior infielder knocked in the game's only run with an RBI single to score courtesy-runner Mallory Baker.
Shelby McKenzie and Riley Forbes also had base hits for Pace. McKenzie walked twice, as did Heavener.
The Patriots (22-4) have won district titles two years in a row and enter the state playoffs winners of their last nine games.
District 1-4A Final
No. 2 West Florida 8, No. 1 Wakulla 3
A Jaguars offense that's been dormant as of late roared and carried the team to its second-straight district title on the road over the War Eagles.
The visitors recorded the game's opening run in the second inning when Sydney Scapin kickstarted the offense with an RBI single. After two more of their players touched home plate in the second, the Lady Jags added five runs in the third. Hailey O'Conner, Mariah Golson, Maddie McAnally, Madelynn Laubach and Brea Holley each drove in a run.
West Florida's (14-10) output is the most runs the team has scored in a game since it put up 17 against Booker T. Washington on April 8. The team scored four runs or less its previous six games leading up to Thursday.
Meanwhile, Scapin went the distance in the circle. The dominant sophomore allowed three runs on five hits while fanning 13 through six innings.
District 1-3A Final
No. 1 North Bay Haven Academy 15, No. 2 Pensacola Catholic 8
For the first time since 2008, the Crusaders claimed a district runner-up trophy after falling against the top-seeded Buccaneers at Walton High School.
Stats were unavailable. Pensacola Catholic finished the season at 10-16.
District 1-1A Final
No. 1 Jay 5, No. 2 Northview 4
It's been a while since the Royals have been in a fight. But Jay proved not only can the team take a punch, it can dish out plenty of counters, too.
In their closest game in weeks, the host Royals rallied past the Chiefs to win their second consecutive district title.
The visitors loaded the bases in the top of the seventh inning, but the game ended when Brett Watson made a leaping, over-the-shoulder catch in center field to rob Payton Gilchrist of a go-ahead hit and seal Jay's 14th straight win.
The Royals (18-5) had not allowed a run in their previous six contests, but that streak was snapped when Emma Gilmore blooped an RBI single to right in the fourth to tie the game at 1-1. Northview went ahead in the fifth after Kayla Dixon popped a solo home run over the fence in left field.
Jay went back in front with three runs in the fifth, capped by an RBI hit-by-pitch from Brooklyn Sorrells to make it 4-2. Sorrells also homered in the second.
The Chiefs (13-12) didn't go away quietly as Gilmore delivered a game-tying two-run shot in the top of the sixth. In the bottom of the frame, Royals sophomore infielder Ella Nelson plated the game-winning run from second when Northview failed to execute a 4-6-3 double play.
Nelson and Alayna Lowery each had two hits to lead the home team. Lowery was credited with the win in the circle after allowing no hits and two walks through 1 2/3 scoreless innings to close the game.
Gilmore finished 2-for-3 with a game-high three RBIs.
Flag Football
Region 1-2A Semifinal
No. 2 Pace 26, No. 3 Chiles 8
The greatest Patriots season in program history lives on for at least one more game after the team used a strong second half to surge past the Timberwolves.
Pace trailed Chiles 8-7 at halftime before scoring 19 unanswered points. Patriots freshman quarterback Amaya Pablo finished with two touchdown passes and added another on the ground. Junior athlete Ashten Dickerson tossed a scoring pass of her own.
With the win, Pace (18-2) advances to the regional finals to play at 7 p.m. Monday at No. 1 Fleming Island. Outscoring opponents this season by a margin of 462-66, the Golden Eagles (15-1) are ranked fifth in 2A and ninth overall.
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: Roundup: Gulf Breeze, Jay, Pace, WFHS softball win districts, Pace F.F. advances
