Midnight Runs: Pace surges into the Region 1-6A Final with marathon win over First Coast

Facing not only the top seed in the Region 1-6A bracket, but the top-ranked baseball team in Class 6A, First Coast saw its clock strike midnight, both literally and figuratively.

Thanks to a weather delay that lasted 3 hours, 27 minutes, Friday's Region 1-6A semifinal from Pace High School didn't see a first pitch thrown until 10:27 p.m. Friday. That offering from Jackson McKenzie's fingertips was a called strike.

At 12:06 a.m. Saturday, the last pitch of the game was hurled for a called strike as well. Tanner Sauls fanned Mike Williams to end a marathon night. More importantly, the sophomore's strikeout lifted Pace to a 10-0 victory in five innings, granting the program its first regional-final berth since 2018.

"I don't care what time we play as long as we win," Patriots head coach Jason McBride said with a laugh. "We've been here before. In the Final Four actually, we won a game that went into midnight. But this is a memory. I'm glad we won, I'm glad the guys didn't let it be a distraction because I was really worried about coming out flat. The guys handled it well and they came out ready to play."

Extending its winning streak to nine games, Pace recorded at least one run in every inning while McKenzie and Sauls combined for a no-hitter.

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The Patriots improved their record to 24-3 and hold the distinction as the last area baseball team alive this postseason. They host No. 3 University on Tuesday for the right to go to state. The Titans defeated No. 7 Spruce Park 6-2 earlier on Friday.

Here's three takeaways from a long and wet night at the ballpark:

'We can't let this be a distraction'

A three-hour-plus delay in the middle of a state run is quite the story to tell. Living in Florida though, you get accustomed to weather getting in the way at times.

McKenzie recalled the various stoppages due to mother nature while playing travel ball in his younger days.

"It's been a while, honestly," he remembered. "It's probably been since I was 10 years old that I've had to wait that long and continuously get ready. I just have to stay mentally locked in."

For Patriots catcher Broc Parmer, this was a first-time experience.

"Starting a game with 10:30 p.m. I can't say is normal," the senior remarked.

As lightning struck and rain dumped on the field from 6:30 p.m. till roughly 9:30 p.m., the Pace players stayed loose in the dugout and in the clubhouse while refueling with food from the concession stand. The players were summoned out of the dugout on multiple occasions to assist with field preparation, only to race back for cover when the showers returned.

Finally, at 10:00 p.m., the Patriots were instructed to put on their cleats and get warmed up.

"I told them, 'Get ready, this is playoff baseball. We can't let this be a distraction,'" McBride said. "That's really all I told them and they got ready to play."

On the other side, facing Pace was only half the battle for First Coast.

Hailing from Jacksonville, the Buccaneers and their fans did not travel from the east coast by bus. Instead, they rode to the Panhandle in separate vehicles. As the wait continued deeper into the night, questions arose as to how the visitors would travel back home in a different time zone.

"Some have hotel rooms and some have to go to work tomorrow," First Coast head coach Stephen Barnes said prior to the game. "It's a mixed bag right now. We're just trying to focus and find a way to give our best effort tonight."

Showing empathy for their opponent before going into battle, the Patriots did their part as gracious hosts by purchasing boxes of Domino's Pizza for the players and coaches to consume.

"Anytime you have a team coming here play, you want to accommodate them," McBride said. "That's a long trip, a five-hour trip. I don't think they have hotel rooms and they're sitting in their cars, the least we could do is get them food and take care of them. They're here all night and now they have a long drive home, so you feel for them. That's a tough position for those kids to be in."

'We seem to be clicking'

To the benefit of those who stuck out the weather and watched the game from the stands, Pace quickly took care of business on the field.

The home team started its attack in the bottom of the first when Parmer cranked a solo home run off Buccaneers starting pitcher Lucas Grayson. During that at-bat, the Patriots catcher went ahead 2-0 in the count before swinging and missing on the next two pitches.

He didn't miss the next one though, as he deposited it over the fence in left-center field.

"The past couple of games, I've had some problems chasing some off-speed pitches," Parmer said. "So all week, I've just been working on letting the ball get to me a little more. ... So he left (the pitch) up and I just let it get as deep as it could. I just put a swing on it and it went."

Scoring five runs with the help of three First Coast errors in the second, Pace added a run in the third before Landon Rogers secured the 10-run cushion in the fourth. The senior knocked in two runs with a double while a third run scored on the play after an errant throw.

The Patriots have put up 10 runs in back-to-back games for the first time since early April. Following a number of tight wins in low-scoring affairs, the Pace bats appear to be in a groove at the right time.

"I was hoping we'd get hot these two weeks, offensively. And these last two games, we seem to be clicking," McBride said. "We didn't necessarily get a lot of hits tonight, but we put the ball in play and put pressure on them with the wet grass and a wet field. ... Earlier in the year when we'd get in those situations, we would have a big strikeout. But now, we're making (the opponent) make a play."

Better to be safe than sorry

The Buccaneers had nothing for McKenzie as he relinquished just two walks while posting five strikeouts.

What was working for the junior lefty?

"Honestly, all my pitches," he said. "The mound was wet obviously and we had to overcome that for sure. But after I started landing my curveball and the crowd had me hyped up, too, I felt like my fastball was really humming out of my hands."

As well as his night was going, McKenzie's outing came to a premature end. Or so it initially seemed. He was pulled after 4 1/3 innings, but for good reason.

If the junior surpassed 60 pitches, he would be required to have three full days of rest according the FHSAA rulebook. With the game moving into Saturday, he may have been ineligible to pitch in the regional final.

McKenzie had a no-hitter going, but was also approaching 60 pitches. With his team in complete control, McBride opted to use caution.

"I really didn't want to pull him because of that. ... Even though we started the game before midnight, I was thinking he should be good, but I didn't want to chance it," the Patriots head coach said. "If he went over 60 and the state tells me he's got to sit three days, that means he wouldn't be available for Tuesday. That's why I went and got him and put Sauls in. That was my thinking."

Region 1-1A final

No. 1 Holmes County 6, No. 2 Northview 3

The Chiefs burst out of the gates, but in the end, they didn't have enough against the region's top seed on the road.

Northview scored two runs in the top of the first inning and held the lead until the Blue Devils put up three runs in the bottom of the third. Trailing 4-2 entering the sixth, the visitors cut their margin to a one-run deficit in the top of the frame, but Holmes County responded with a two-spot in the bottom-half.

The one player the Chiefs couldn't stop was Colby Jones. The Blue Devils senior went 3-for-3 at the plate with two triples, four RBIs and a run scored. Stats were unavailable for Northview, who finished the season at 17-8.

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: Pace baseball stays 'locked in,' beats First Coast after weather delay