Navarre softball wins wild two-day game to reach regional final
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Three area teams continued their softball state playoff runs tonight after rain postponed games initially scheduled for Tuesday.
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Navarre prevailed in a game that took place in multiple fields in multiple counties, setting up a rematch with Pace in the Region 1-6A final. Gulf Breeze and West Florida saw their seasons come to an end. Below is a recap from all three games.
Region 1-6A
No. 3 Navarre 9, No. 2 Tocoi Creek 4
ST. JOHNS | In a game that lasted two days, on two different playing surfaces, in two counties, Navarre ended Tocoi Creek's playoff run.
The Raiders completed a two-day upset of second-seeded Tocoi Creek, 9-4, on May 13 in the second part of a suspended Florida High School Athletic Association Region 1-6A softball playoff.
It began on the artificial turf of Fort Family Regional Park in Jacksonville. It moved one day later to the Toros' dirt infield in St. Johns County. It ended with Navarre punching a ticket for the regional finals against No. 1 seed Pace.
Pace beat Navarre in last year's Region 1-6A final and has beaten the Raiders three times this season, including a 4-3 win in the District 1-6A final on April 30. The Patriots will be looking to advance to their sixth straight Final Four, while Navarre will be looking for its first Final Four appearance since 2006.
"It was definitely a weird, weird game," Navarre coach Jacqueline Othmani said. "But they definitely stepped up in the conditions and with the different playing days. I was really proud of how they were able to adjust."
The weirdest of the weird shook up the itinerary Tuesday. Under heavy rain in St. Johns County -- the National Weather Service recorded a station near Tocoi Creek that measured 4.69 inches of rain in the afternoon -- administrators relocated the game to the turf field of Fort Family Regional Park, some 20 miles to the north. The Raiders were undeterred.
"I love being on the go and with my teammates constantly," Navarre pitcher Kaleigh Atchley said. "I think it definitely kept up our motivation a lot."
Moving north didn't dodge the rain, which parked over the southeastern quadrant of Duval County and pushed the first pitch to 8:34 p.m. Eastern. As rain continued off-and-on, Navarre (15-10) leaned on clutch hits from Karsyn Riddle (3 for 4, triple, 2 RBI) to build an unexpected 9-1 lead against Toros ace Hannah Jones, who was 20-1 with an 0.68 ERA entering the game.
But the downpour resumed, with players trying to battle on even as pitches sailed out of control and bats flew wildly on errant swings. Umpires finally halted day one at 10:15 p.m. in the fourth inning, still short of official status
To complete the suspended game, the schools moved back to Tocoi Creek, and the Toros quickly found life in their first at-bat of day two when shortstop Naomi Valcin cracked a three-run homer to center.
Jones held Navarre hitless once play resumed, but the Raiders had inflicted enough damage on day one, and Atchley stifled the second-seeded Toros (24-3) the rest of the way.
The two-county, two-day game was her 11th win of the season. Very likely, the most unusual.
"I'm really proud of everybody," she said. "We could've come out here and we could've been down or sore, but we're really strong as a team and we were able to pull through really well."
Region 1-5A
No. 1 Niceville 6, No. 4 Gulf Breeze 3
Thirteen days after the Eagles beat the Dolphins in the District 1-5A final, Niceville did it again to end Gulf Breeze's season.
After not scoring until the sixth inning in the district final, the Eagles scored three runs in the bottom of the first. Pitcher Chloe Bailey helped her own cause with a two-run double, then Layla Hughes scored on a wild pitch.
Gulf Breeze got to Bailey in the top of the third after she threw a perfect game in the district final. Ashlynn Stemcosky scored on a fielder's choice to put the Dolphins on the board. Jessica Jagar hit a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 3-2, then the throw home got away and Stemcosky scored to tie the game.
The tie didn't last long, as Sydney Hann hit a one-out solo home run in the bottom of the third to put Niceville back in front. Anabelle Shackelford smacked a two-run shot later in the inning to make it a three-run lead again.
Gulf Breeze brought the tying run to the plate in the top of the fourth and fifth innings, but couldn't score another run off Bailey. The South Alabama commit allowed two hits and two walks and struck out 16 in seven innings pitched.
Sally Alberson and Ava Gruber recorded the Dolphins only hits.
Niceville will host No. 2 Chiles in the Region 1-5A championship.
Region 1-3A
No. 2 Paxon 4, No. 6 West Florida 0
Kassidy Edwards in the circle and Maleah Rouse at the plate combined to end the Jaguars season.
Edwards pitched a complete game shutout, allowing four hits and a walk while striking out five. Rouse drove in all four Jaguars runs, hitting a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first and a three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth.
West Florida (10-16) didn't put a runner in scoring position until an Ava Scapin double in the top of the fourth inning and their best chance at a run came on a Lilly Speight single in the top of the fifth, but Abby Cogdill was thrown out at home.
Cogdill, Scapin, Speight and Brooklyn White all recorded hits.
Paxon (17-7) will play at Wakulla in the Region 1-3A final.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Navarre softball advances to regional final after upset win