Sports

Niceville baseball earns statement win, defeating Pace 9-2

Ethan Thomas delivered on the mound and at the plate while Colton Cook launched a three-run homer as the Eagles dominated a state title contender.

Travis Espy

After opening the season 4-0 before dropping three straight to Crestview, Mosley and South Lake, Niceville needed a bounce-back performance.

The Eagles got one — and then some — nearly run-ruling a Pace team widely regarded as a state championship contender, cruising to a 9-2 victory.

“Pace is a powerhouse program. They’re one of the most well-coached teams we play. Coach McBride does a really good job,” Niceville head coach Justin Bruce said. “For us to come out and execute at the plate is something we haven’t done in the past three games. We lost three games in a row, they’ve been by one run and two runs, we’ve been a swing away, we haven’t been able to get it. And tonight, we put some really good at-bats together, and that’s a really good team to beat, so I’m proud of our guys.”

Niceville grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI single from Ryder Hodgkinson that scored Thomas Radliff. Ethan Thomas followed with an RBI triple to push the lead to 3-0, and Colton Cook singled and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Deacon Avery to make it 4-0 before the inning was over.

Cook then provided the knockout blow in the third, launching a three-run home run that scored both Hodgkinson and Radliff and blew the game open at 7-0.

“He’s coming through for the team,” Bruce said. “You want your seniors to be able to come through in moments and Colton was able to step in and have a couple of good at-bats and help the team, and I’m proud of him for taking advantage of his opportunities tonight.”

Jake Buis added to the lead in the third, scoring on a sacrifice fly from Remington Crum, and CJ Bolden came home on a wild pitch in the fifth to push the advantage to 9-0.

Thomas was just as impressive on the mound, pitching five innings and striking out six while allowing zero runs.

“A sophomore coming into a Pace-Niceville game, that’s huge,” Bruce said. “For him to be able to execute his pitches — he didn’t have his breaking ball tonight — but for him to be able to execute through that is huge. I’m so proud of that kid for coming out and having a good night.”

Pace got on the board in the sixth when Eli Riffell grounded out to score Braiden Cheshire, followed by a Brady Carlson groundout that scored Aaron Muldowney, but the two-run rally was too little, too late.

Niceville (5-3) will host Robertsdale, Alabama, on Saturday. Pace (6-2) travels to Baker, Alabama, on Friday. The two teams are set to meet again April 6 at Pace.

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