Walton softball wins district title

By PATRICK CASEY

The Walton Braves softball team took advantage of two costly errors in the third inning to rally from a 1-0 deficit for a 2-1 victory over defending state champion West Florida as the Walton County squad captured their first district championship in fast-pitch softball.

The Braves, who won the District 1 title in Class 4A with Thursday night’s win, will host Tallahassee Godby(18-8) on Thursday, April 23, at 7 p.m.

The game was delayed from the designated 6 p.m. start time by a consistent rain that required some on-field maintenance before play could begin.

Walton freshman starting pitcher Hannah Poole seemed to struggle with a wet softball early as she walked lead-off hitter Kayla Miler. Jibrasha Moore hit a sharp grounder to Braves shortstop Jamie Lamb two pitches later with Lamb’s throw getting away from second baseman Sydni Earley to put two runners on with nobody out as the rain continued to fall.

A Poole pitch then got away from catcher Jade Larrick to move the base runners to second and third with Kristin Gunter providing a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead. Walton centerfielder Kelee Mosley gunned Miller out at the plate but Larrick was called for blocking the plate without the ball, allowing the run to score. Poole then settled down to strike out the next two batters to prevent any further damage.

Senior Mara Morse drew a walk in the bottom of the first but the Braves were unable to capitalize in the frame with West Florida starter Farrah Nicholas retiring the side in order in the second to maintain the 1-0 lead.

Poole set down the Jaguars in order in both the second and third innings, striking out four of the six batters to set the table for the Braves to rally in the bottom of the third.

Kiki Bogart and Kayla Jackson both grounded out to start the third but Walton was able to put together some two-out magic with the help of a close call at first base. Jamie Lamb was hit by a pitch to make her way to first with Earley providing a bouncer to third that should have ended the inning. Jaguars third baseman Maegan Freeman’s throw to first base was ruled to have pulled Lauren Carnley off the bag, allowing Earley to reach safely with Lamb heading to third in the confusion.

With Mara Morse at the plate, Earley took off for second base, drawing a throw to the bag that was relayed back to home plate in an attempt to catch Lamb trying to score. Lamb reversed direction, getting caught in a rundown between third base and home plate that eventually resulted in an overthrow of home, allowing Lamb to streak in to tie the game with Earley moving to third base. Morse then delivered a 1-1 pitch with a base hit just over the second baseman’s head, beating the throw at first base by a step to plate Earley with the go-ahead run.

Nicholas got out of the inning as Poole popped up to shortstop but the damage had been done as the Braves took the lead and the momentum back to the field with rain no longer hampering either side.

Poole allowed a single to Emily Loring in the fourth but got a bouncer back to the mound from Breana Rogers to end the two-out threat.

West Florida’s best chance to tie the game came in the top of the fifth inning as Lauren Carnley drew a one-out walk with catcher Bri Morgan moving her to second on a sacrifice. Miller then singled into the outfield with Carnley held at third instead of trying to score the tying run. Poole ended the threat with a 3-2 pitch that was swung on and missed by Moore to strand the two runners.

Two pop ups and a strikeout ended the sixth inning with a foul out to Larrick and a pair of strikeouts in the seventh ending the game as Poole was determined to earn the win with solid pitching over the last two innings, setting off a celebration by Braves fans at the historic accomplishment for the squad.

West Florida was held to two hits as Poole struck out 11 while walking two.

Walton had only three hits as Morse, Lamb and Larrick each had singles as Nicholas struck out two and walked two.

The three errors in the game helped all three of the runs come home to roost with West Florida falling to the Braves for the third time in 2015. Walton had posted wins at West Florida (2-1) on February 27 and at home (4-1) on March 6.

Walton reached the district title game after earning a 6-2 win over Pensacola Catholic on April 14 in Marianna. The game was on the cusp of being rained out due to the heavy amount of rain Jackson County received on April 11-13 but the Bulldogs’ grounds crew was able to get the field playable for a later start time.

Poole again led the way with 12 strikeouts on the mound while Lamb provided two hits and drove in a pair of runs. Jasmin Hester also had a pair of hits as Poole held the Crusaders to just two hits to earn the Braves’ third win of the year over the Escambia County club.

West Florida earned a 4-2 win over Marianna later that night in a game that did not end until 10:30 p.m. The Bulldogs finished the year with a 10-16 mark and missed out on the state playoffs for the first time since the 2009 season.

West Florida (16-10) will travel to Tallahassee to face Florida High(18-10) at 6 p.m. on April 23. A West Florida win could send them back to DeFuniak Springs to face Walton in the Region semifinal while a Florida High win would allow the Seminoles to host either Godby or Walton on April 28.

Team Notes: Walton’s 21-2 record is the best record in school history in the sport of fast-pitch softball. Walton needs one more win to pass the 2006 squad that also won 21 games. Freshman pitcher Hannah Poole has 241 strikeouts in 23 regular season games so far in 2015. Kayla Jackson and Mara Morse are the only two seniors on the squad. Walton is 0-3 in fast-pitch softball playoff games with all the losses coming on the road. The Godby game will be Walton’s first-ever home state playoff game in the sport.