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.

C                     520 000 0 – 7 8 0

M                     000 000 0 – 0 2 3

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.