NICEVILLE — The last time the Fort Walton Beach baseball team was district champion was the year some of this year’s seniors were born.

Thanks to an inspired pitching effort from Austin Sullivan and a handful of timely hits, that drought is over.

Sullivan pitched a complete game for the Vikings, scattering five hits as Fort Walton Beach knocked off perennial power Niceville 5-1 at The Hill for the District 2-5A championship. It’s the school’s first district title since 1992.

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“I don’t know how I feel right now to be honest with you,” Fort Walton Beach coach Dave Garner said. “I’m just proud for the kids. The whole group is very excited. You set goals and this is definitely one of them.”

Sullivan battled through 118 pitches to earn the win, making clutch pitch after clutch pitch. He wasn’t perfect — the Eagles stranded 10 baserunners — but made key pitches to work out of jams.

“The difference was they bunched their hits together and we spread ours out,” Niceville coach Brad Phillips said. “We stranded too many baserunners.”

The Vikings only had six hits, but they certainly made them count. They got on the board in the third when Niceville pitcher Kyle McDorman issued a pair of two-out walks to extend the inning. J.D. Little made those walks hurt, knocking in Phillip Gabes with a single for a 1-0 lead.

Then in the fourth, the Vikings essentially put the game out of reach. With one out, William Fowler walked and Mac Barton reached on an error to bring up the top of the order.

Dale Smith extended the lead to 2-0 with an RBI single to score Fowler, and then Gabes broke the game open with a two-run double for a 4-0 lead.

Niceville’s only run came in the fifth when Michael Wells drove in Michael Coelho with a double to deep right field. The Eagles went on to strand five runners over the last three innings.

Sullivan seemed to pitch with increasing determination as the game went on, often falling behind in counts only to come back and get the out. He recorded 10 strikeouts, including five of the last six outs.

When the Eagles put a pair of runners on with one out in the seventh, Garner came out for a chat with his hurler.

“I asked him if he was tired,” Garner said. “He said, ‘Coach, I want this.’ I told him if he can get his breaking ball over, he can have it.”

Sullivan went on to strike out Niceville cleanup hitter Ben DeVall and then induced a game-ending groundout by McDorman. After third baseman Blake Becnel’s throw to first just beat McDorman, a wild celebration complete with a dog pile ensued between first base and the pitcher’s mound. At the bottom of the dog pile was Garner.

“We got some breaks tonight, and I think the baseball gods were with us,” Garner said. “But when you haven’t won one in so long that’s what happens. We beat an awesome baseball team in a great baseball game.”

LYNN HAVEN — Had Tuesday’s District 2-5A semifinal between Fort Walton Beach and Crestview been played at a different location, one of Viking third baseman Blake Becnel’s two home runs might have been a fly out.

But with the American flag in centerfield at Mosley High School’s Harry A. Frank Field indicating a stiff breeze blowing straight out, Becnel’s big flies proved to be the difference.

Becnel hit a solo shot in the third and a crucial three-run blast in the fourth, as the Vikings held off the hot-hitting Bulldogs for a 9-6 victory and a trip to Thursday’s district finals against county rival and No. 1 seed Niceville, which beat Mosley 6-3 in the nightcap.

Both the Vikings and Eagles have secured spots in the state tournament with their wins.

“Those were big hits,” Fort Walton Beach coach Dave Garner said of Becnel’s blasts. “Scoring three runs in the third and fourth was huge. With the wind like it was today, no lead was safe.”

With the score tied 2-2, Becnel led off the bottom of the third with the longer of his two homers, a solo shot that would have probably left the park in any conditions. The Vikings added two more runs in the inning on a two-run double by Morgan Langley to build a seemingly comfortable 5-2 lead.

The Bulldogs answered with a run in the top of the fourth, but Becnel answered with a towering three-run shot that got caught in the jet stream in the bottom half. That gave the Vikings an 8-3 lead and proved to be the difference in the game.

Crestview got back-to-back RBI singles by Tristin Linville and Kameron Miller to cut the lead to 8-5 in the fifth before the Vikings answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth and the Bulldogs tacked on another in the sixth.

A dropped third strike and a single aided by miscommunication among the Fort Walton Beach defense put the tying run at the plate for Crestview in the top of the seventh, but cleanup hitter Nick Brown struck out to end the game.

“I’m really happy with the way we fought,” Garner said. “It’s one small step for mankind, because the mighty Vikes are going to (the) state (playoffs).”

Becnel, Dale Smith and Brock Herrington each had two hits for the Vikings, while Linville finished with a pair of hits and three RBIs for Crestview.

Niceville’s spot in the final seemed shaky early, as the Eagles had to overcome five errors for the win. Working around the shaky defense, Niceville starter Chris Krenek tossed a complete-game two hitter while allowing just one earned run.

Mosley took advantage of those errors early, scoring all three of its runs off of three errors in the first two innings. The first two Dolphin hitters of the game reached base on consecutive errors by Niceville middle infielders.

The Eagles got to work at chipping into the Dolphins’ lead in the second when Chase Darhower singled in Kyle McDorman and Cutter Tarpley to make the score 3-2 Mosley.

The bats stayed hot in the third as Michael Coelho doubled to lead off the inning, and then came around to tie the game when Michael Wells doubled a batter later. Then with two outs, Parker Willingham doubled to the gap in left-center to score Wells and give the Eagles a lead they wouldn’t give up.

FORT WALTON BEACH — If Thursday’s game between county rivals Niceville and Choctawhatchee didn’t prepare the two teams for the postseason, nothing will.

The Eagles managed to score five runs in the 10th inning to pull out a tense 8-3 victory over the Indians at Campbell Field.

Incredibly, Choctaw (11-14) managed to hold Niceville (21-4) to three runs over the first nine innings despite the Eagles getting the first batter on base to start an inning eight times.

But with two outs in the 10th against Miguel Paulino, Niceville finally broke through.

With runners on second and third, Kyle Kennedy laced a single to left field that scored two runs. After Michael Wells drew his third walk and Ben DeVall was also issued a free pass, Parker Willingham cleared the bases with a three-run double.

Chris Krenek then clinched the victory with a scoreless 10th. He followed Kyle McDorman, who entered in the fourth inning and only allowed one run before Krenek came on.

“I’m proud of the guys for overcoming their mistakes and finding a way to win,” Niceville coach Brad Phillips said.

Phillips commended Choctaw, saying the Indians “played their hearts out” and probably deserved the win.

Cody Brannen tied it at 3-3 in the sixth with a groundout and he also drove in Choctaw’s second run with an RBI single. Ben Hambleton had an RBI single in the second for Choctaw’s first run.

Niceville scored twice in the third on a sacrifice fly by DeVall and an RBI groundout by Willingham. A.J. Gomez added an RBI groundout in the fifth for the Eagles’ third run.

Kennedy was 3-for-6, and Wells was 2-for-3 with a double. Willingham was 1-for-2 with a walk and two sacrifice bunts.

Cameron McNabb had two hits for Choctaw.

FORT WALTON BEACH — Blake Becnel’s bomb to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning would prove to be the only run Fort Walton Beach would score on Friday in its District 2-5A grudge match with rival Niceville.

As it turned out, that was all Vikings pitcher J.D. Little needed.

Relying mostly on a knee-buckling curveball and a spot-on changeup, Little carved up the Niceville lineup, allowing just five hits in blanking the Eagles over six innings before turning the ball — and the game — over to reliever Austin Sullivan, who outran Chris Krenek to the first base bag in the top of the seventh for the third and final out to preserve a taut 1-0 win.

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The win marked the first by a Fort Walton Beach baseball team over Niceville in seven years.

“It’s just a huge win for us and what we’re trying to do with our baseball program,” Vikings coach David Garner said.

With the loss, visiting Niceville (18-4, 4-1 District 2-5A) also had its seven-game winning streak snapped thanks in large part to what Garner referred to as some “real pitching” by the Vikings (13-7, 3-3) starter.

“I knew coming in that they were a great fastball-hitting team,” Little said. “So I knew I had to throw a lot of off-speed pitches. That allowed me to go longer and didn’t put as much strain on my arm.”

Instead, the only ones straining were those sitting in the Niceville dugout.

“We have guys that just won’t make adjustments and that’s what happens,” Niceville coach Brad Phillips said. “The hits that we got were good approaches, we just have some guys that refuse to make an adjustment and that’s going to be the result time after time after time.”

A leadoff double by Ben DeVall in the seventh gave the Eagles only their third runner to reach scoring position. Pinch-runner Travis Sweeney then moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Parker Willingham, putting the tying run 90 feet away with only one out.

That was when Austin, who came on for Little immediately after DeVall’s double, hunkered in, retiring pinch hitter Kyle McDorman on strikes before issuing a walk to pinch-hitter Colt Tarpley. After getting ahead of Chris Krenek 0-2, Sullivan alertly sprinted to cover first base for the final out after noticing the Vikings’ first basemen would be unable to cover after diving for Krenek’s ball.

“That was huge,” said Becnel, who was 2-for-3. “My heart was pounding.”

From the outset, the game took on the feel of a pitcher’s duel, with both Little and McDorman matching zero for zero on the scoreboard.

McDorman ran into trouble in the third, when after retiring the first two batters he faced on strikes, Dale Smith gave the Vikings their first hit with a sharply hit single through the right side. McDorman walked Phillip Gabes before Niceville shortstop Chase Darhower ended the threat by beating Smith to the second base bag on a fielder’s choice.

But in the fourth, Becnel struck, crushing the first pitch he saw for a towering home run that cleared the fence in left center field.

“It was a fastball,” Becnel said. “He just put it right where I like it.”

“That one pitch didn’t beat us,” Phillips said. “It was what J.D. Little threw that beat us.”

McDorman allowed just three hits and struck out seven over six innings.

NICEVILLE —Regular-season accomplishments don’t carry much weight once the postseason begins, but that won’t stop the Niceville baseball team from enjoying the fruits of its labor.

The Eagles slugged their way to a 7-3 victory over Crestview at The Hill on Tuesday, improving to a perfect 4-0 in District 2-5A play and clinching the No. 1 seed for the district tournament.

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Michael Wells hit a three-run home run in the Eagles’ decisive five-run third inning, and three Niceville (18-3, 4-0) pitchers combined to hold the Bulldogs (14-7, 2-3) to three runs on just five hits. Colt Tarpley earned the win after working 4 1/3 innings, while pitching around six walks and allowing all three runs.

“We still have to play the tournament,” Niceville coach Brad Phillips said. “That’s the way you look at it as a coach. But we’ve still accomplished as much as we can accomplish to this point. We’ve done what we expect ourselves to do and all we can do. It starts over again in a couple of weeks.”

Entering the game, the Bulldogs had an outside chance of tying Niceville for the No. 1 seed if they could have pulled out the win. Early on, it looked like they might. After each team scored a run in the second, Crestview sophomore starting pitcher Kameron Miller drilled a two-run homer over the wall in left to give his team a 3-1 lead.

The Bulldogs didn’t make it out of the third with that lead intact.

With one out and a run already in to make the score 3-2, Miller gave up a single to Kyle McDorman and hit Kyle Kennedy in the back with a pitch. After Kennedy was hit, the Eagle bench became noticeably more fired up. That emotion carried over to the next at-bat when Wells bounced a 1-1 offering off the top of the wall and over in right center for the big three-run shot.

“Kennedy has been our sparkplug all season,” Phillips said. “When he goes, our team goes. I think (Kennedy getting hit) got the guys going a little bit. That was a big hit by Wells.”

Niceville added another run on an RBI single by Michael Coelho to build a 6-3 advantage. Despite putting six runners on base in the remaining innings, Crestview wasn’t able to chip into the deficit.

“We got up early on them and they answered like good teams do,” Crestview coach Tim Gillis said. “We just weren’t able to answer tonight. We didn’t play that bad, we just didn’t get it done.”

The Bulldogs stranded eight total runners, three of which reached on walks. Miller took the loss after allowing all seven runs in five innings of work. Chris Krenek and Will Davis combined to pitch 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief for Niceville.

The Niceville baseball team’s pitching staff has been nearly perfect all week. Chris Krenek was perfect on Thursday.

Krenek fired a perfect game as Niceville blanked North Bullitt (Ky.) 10-0 in five innings.

Kentucky teams are finding it hard to get into the hit column against the Eagles, who have allowed one hit in the last three games.

Hunter Phillips pitched a no-hitter against Graves County on Monday, Kyle McDorman threw the bulk of a one-hitter against Russell County on Tuesday and Krenek added an exclamation point on Thurday. He struck out six in the gem.

Offensively, McDorman, Ben DeVall and Tate Deshong each connected on a two-run double against North Bullitt while Kyle Kennedy (RBI triple), Parker Willingham (RBI double) and Taylor Saris (RBI single) also drove in a run apiece.

A.J. Gomez went 2-for-2.

Niceville (16-3) hosts Mosley tonight.

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WP: Chris Krenek

Hunter Phillips was lights out for the Niceville baseball team on Monday.

Phillips pitched a no-hitter against visiting Graves County (Ky.), and the Eagles used a six-run second inning to cruise to an 8-0 victory.

In pitching the no-hitter, Phillips struck out 14 and only walked two. He improved to 6-0 this season.

Parker Willingham, Michael Coelho and Chris Krenek all had doubles in the second-inning outburst. Kyle McDorman, A.J. Gomez and Michael Wells each added a hit and an RBI for Niceville (14-3).

The Eagles play host to Russell County (Ky.) tonight.

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WP: Hunter Phillips; LP: Wilson

NICEVILLE — Niceville baseball coach Brad Phillips had sensed for the last few weeks that complacency was starting to set into his squad and that a reality check was coming.

It arrived Thursday in a lopsided loss to Tippecanoe (Ohio) and continued Friday in a 10-0 loss to Lexington Christian Academy (Ky.) in which the Eagles were one-hit by southpaw Clay Hall.

Click to view a photo gallery from the game

Phillips hasn’t liked the Eagles’ approach of late at the plate, on the mound, in their preparation and off the field. Niceville (13-3) was still winning, but Phillips believes the team might have been living off its name a little against some Florida schools.

“These teams coming in from out of town, the ‘N’ on our hat and the ‘Eagles’ on our chest and the tradition that the jersey and all that stands for means absolutely nothing to (our opponents),” Phillips said.

Hall, a lefthander who throws sidearm, was masterful on the mound for Lexington Christian (6-2), which has won six straight games since starting the year 0-2. Hall retired Niceville’s first 10 batters and didn’t allow a hit until Kyle McDorman singled up the middle with one out in the sixth.

“He did a great job of getting ahead of hitters and allowing our defense to work behind him,” Lexington Christian coach Keith Galloway said.

While Niceville’s offense struggled, Lexington Christian piled up 14 hits and scored in every inning but one. Nate Coon and Ethan McKiddy both had three hits, while Evan Stephens and Andrew Harris added a pair apiece.

Coon drove in the team’s first run in the first with an RBI single while McKiddy had an RBI double in the second and an RBI single in the fifth as the Eagles from Kentucky finished their week in Florida 5-0.

“This is our fifth drip down here, and I don’t think we’ve ever been 5-0,” Galloway said. “It was really a cap to a great week.”

Niceville, meanwhile, has dropped three of four games after winning 12 straight to start the year. After Thursday’s defeat, Phillips called a 6:30 a.m. practice on Friday. He then blamed himself for Friday’s loss after making that decision to work out early before an evening game.

Phillips is curious to see how the Eagles will respond after taking a few lumps.

“We put ourselves on a pedestal, and when you do that somebody is getting ready to pull that pedestal from underneath you. That’s what happened,” Phillips said. “Good, championship clubs push through that. They continue to do things the right way all the time, and we’ll get back on track. It’s just everybody needs a big, big piece of humble pie, and we’ve taken a big bite out of it the last couple nights."

CRESTVIEW — Niceville and Pace still have plenty of time left in the regular season before they have to start worrying about the playoffs. But they certainly got a taste of the postseason atmosphere Friday night.

The two traditional baseball powers played almost flawless baseball in the championship game of the Powerade Classic at Crestview, with the Patriots posting a dramatic, come-from-behind 3-1 win in the bottom of the seventh on Rusty Way’s walkoff two-run home run.

Click to view a photo gallery from the game

Way’s blast broke a 1-1 deadlock that came after 6 ½ innings of outstanding pitching and defense from both clubs.

“It was a great game to be a part of,” said Pace coach Charlie Warner as he held the championship trophy. “I told (Niceville coach Brad Phillips) that they have a great ballclub and it was fun to play them. I wish we could play them every day.”

The Eagles (12-1) were dealt their first loss of the season in crushing fashion after holding a 1-0 lead for six innings. Niceville starter Will Davis, normally a short reliever, was stellar for the Eagles as he retired 12 of the first 13 hitters he faced.

Using a deceptive sidearm motion, Davis induced eight groundball outs in his 4 2/3 innings of work. He also struck out three while allowing just three hits, and didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning.

“It wasn’t surprising how well he did, but it was surprising he went as long as he did,” Phillips said. “We were hoping for three innings out of him.”

While Davis confounded the Pace (14-2) offense, Patriot starter Chris Hemphill was just as impressive. The Eagles reached Hemphill for a run in the second when Chris Krenek led off the inning with a triple and scored on a Cutter Tarpley single.

From that point on, Hemphill was almost unhittable. He pitched all seven innings, allowing four hits and striking out three.

“He did a great job,” Warner said of Hemphill. “This is the first time he’s gotten this far in a game. It came at the right time.”

Hemphill’s ability to keep his team just a run behind was crucial, as the Patriots were saving their rally for their final at-bat. Kyle McDorman came on to relieve Davis with two outs in the fifth and held the Patriots scoreless over the next 1 1/3 innings, but couldn’t get the final three outs.

Josh Reeves led off the bottom of the seventh with an infield single, as he barely beat the throw to first from Tarpley at second base. Kris Desposito then tried to bunt Reeves over, but Niceville catcher Michael Wells’ throw to second pulled shortstop Chase Darhower off the bag and put runners at first and second with no outs.

After Austin Collinsworth struck out, McDorman threw a wild pitch to advance both runners, and then threw another wild pitch to score Reeves and move Desposito to third with just one out.

Then on a 3-1 count, Way launched a no-doubter over the 365-foot sign in left-center to clinch the game and the tournament championship.

“We knew no lead would be safe against those guys, especially a one-run lead,” Phillips said. “We knew they were going to make their comeback. Unfortunately, today they made their comeback in the bottom of the seventh when we didn’t have a chance to answer.”

l Niceville 4, Shoals Christian (Ala.) 1: In Niceville’s first game of the day, Mikel Belcher only allowed one hit in six innings and struck out seven to earn the victory.

The Eagles scored twice in the third and fourth innings. Kyle Kennedy went 2-for-4 with an RBI double and AJ Gomez added an RBI single.

Tarpley and Michael Coelho both had sacrifice flys for Niceville. Taylor Brackin homered for Shoal Christian’s only hit

CRESTVIEW – Niceville starting pitcher Colt Tarpley shook off a slow start to allow just three Crestview hits in four innings of work as the Eagles beat the Bulldogs 7-1 in District 2-5A baseball action Friday night.

Tarpley went to a full count with five of the first six Bulldog batters he faced.

Before working his way out of the jam, Tarpley gave up a single to Bulldog leadoff batter Dakota Dean and walked Nick Brown, Trevor Carnahan and Tyler Davis.

The walk to Davis scored Dean to tie the game at 1-1.

Niceville scored in the top of the first when Michael Coelho singled and took second on an error, moved to third on an infield out and came home as Michael Wells grounded out to first.

As shaky as Tarpley’s control was to start the game, it was equally sharp once he found his groove.

Tarpley caught Trinstan Linville looking to end the Bulldog first and went on to get strike outs on six of the next Bulldog outs.

Eagle coach Brad Phillips said there wasn’t any great secret to Tarpley suddenly finding his control.

“He saw relief coming in the bullpen,” Phillips said. “That was it.

“We sent a guy down to get ready and he didn’t want to come out of the game. Once he saw somebody was getting ready to come in for him, he turned it around. It wasn’t anything mechanical, he just finally decided he wanted to pitch.”

As Tarpley took control of things the Eagles (5-0, 2-0) found ways to score runs thanks in large part to Bulldog (4-2, 1-1) mistakes.

Niceville struck for three runs without getting a hit in the third as Crestview committed two errors and Bulldog pitcher Gabe Gunter walked three.

On the night the Bulldogs had just four hits they made six errors, which contributed to the Eagle win.

Niceville extended the lead to 6-1 scoring twice in the fourth.

Parker Willingham led off the inning with a long triple to the right-center field gap and scored as Cutter Tarpley reached on an error on a fielder’s choice.

Cutter Tarpley scored on a Kyle Kennedy base hit.

Bryce Kennedy came on for Gunter following the Kennedy single and got Wells to line into a double play.

Kennedy also worked the fifth inning for the Bulldogs without allowing a run.

Niceville’s last score came in the seventh of Hunter Lemley.

Lemley hit Chase Darhower, the second Eagle batter of the inning, with a pitch. Darhower came around to score as Coelho reached on the final Bulldog miscue of the night.

Chris Krenet closed out the game on the mound for the Eagles entering in the sixth for Mikel Belcher, who had replaced Colt Tarpley.

“Any time you have more errors than hit you aren’t going to have a hard time winning,” Bulldog coach Tim Gillis said. “We got outplayed in every facet of the game tonight."

NICEVILLE — Hunter Phillips and Alex Mara locked up in a pitcher’s duel as the Niceville and Fort Walton Beach baseball teams squared off in their District 2-5A opener on Wednesday.

The Vikings drew first blood against Phillips and  the Eagles, but a five-run fifth inning proved to be the difference as Niceville won 5-2.

“Alex and Hunter both threw really well the whole game long,” Niceville coach Brad Phillips said. “It was a battle and (the Vikings) are a scary bunch.

“We knew they had good arms and we were going to be in for a battle. We had some timely hitting and executed some small ball type stuff there in the fifth inning. Timely hitting and great pitching will win a bunch of ball games and that’s what we had tonight.”

Phillips allowed just one Viking hit in five innings of work — a single to Brock Herrington in the second that scored J.D. Little from third. Little reached on a walk, and then showed some smart base running, taking second on a wild pitch and third as Blake Bechnel was retired on a pop foul down the right field line.

By the time the Vikings (2-1, 0-1) scored their other run in the sixth, the Eagles (4-0, 1-0) had produced their big fifth after Mara had dominated the first four innings, allowing just one hit and striking out eight Niceville batters..

Chris Krenek led off the Eagle fifth with a double to the gap in right center. Parker Willingham reached on a bunt single. Krenek and Willingham scored on a base hit by Michael Coelho.

A walk to Kyle Kennedy was followed by a Ben DeVall double that cleared the bases and scored what turned out to be the winning runs. DeVall wrapped up the Eagle scoring as A.J. Gomez was safe on an error.

The Vikings pushed across the final run of the game in the sixth against Colt Tarpley when Brandon Horn, who drew a walk from Tarpley, scored on a Blake Bechnel double.

Phillips fanned five Vikings while allowing the one hit in five innings of work.

“It was a nip-and-tuck game,” Viking coach David Garner said. “It was a pretty well-played game, for the most part.

“But they hit the ball on the barrel, outran the baseball a couple of times and got some big hits and that was it.”

Crestview 7, Mosley 0: Sam Bass tossed a gem on Wednesday in the Bulldogs’ District 2-5A opener, allowing a single hit in six innings while notching the win.

Nick Brown and Trevor Carnahan both had two hits for Crestview (4-1, 1-0), while Tyler Davis smacked a three-run double.

Crestview plays host Friday to Niceville.

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WP: Sam Bass; LP: Marshall

NICEVILLE — Both the Niceville and Choctawhatchee baseball teams’ bats reflected the frigid, unforgiving conditions of Monday night’s game.

But once the late innings rolled around, it was the Eagles that got the big hit and that was enough to pull out a 5-3 victory over the Indians in a season-opening contest.

By the bottom of the sixth inning, Niceville (1-0) had only registered one hit — a leadoff single by Michael Coelho in the first. Ben DeVall finally broke the Eagles’ hitless drought after the initial inning when he sandwiched a single in the hole between a walk by Michael Wells and a hit batsman by A.J. Gomez.

That set the table for Chris Krenek, who roped a two-run double down the third-base line off of Choctaw reliever Robert Hartranft that broke a 2-2 tie. Pinch runner Travis Sweeney then scored on a passed ball for a 5-2 lead.

Choctaw (0-1) made things interesting in the seventh when Luke Clark swatted an RBI single off of Niceville reliever Will Davis, and the Indians had the tying run on first with two outs. But Colt Tarpley sealed the win for Davis and tallied the save when he came on for Davis and recorded a game-ending strikeout.

Hunter Phillips started for Niceville and allowed two hits and two runs — one earned — while striking out seven and walking four in five innings. Starter Brian Moore was also effective for Choctaw, giving up one hit and two runs — none earned — while striking out five and walking two in four innings.

Niceville scored two runs in the second inning on a Choctaw throwing error. The Indians tied it up in the fifth when Tanner Black followed Moore’s RBI double by knocking the ball out of catcher Wells’ glove as he dived for the plate after getting caught in rundown.