In a back-and-forth regional final series where both sides fought until the final out, it was Niceville’s season that came to an end — for the second straight year, eliminated in the Elite 8 by Lincoln.
- The Eagles forced a winner-take-all Game 3 after a dominant Game 2 performance, but the Trojans pulled away late to punch their ticket to a third consecutive Final Four with a 9-2 victory.
Game 1: Lincoln 8, Niceville 4
The series opened Friday night with Ethan Thomas on the mound for Niceville opposite Ethan LaFuria for Lincoln. After two scoreless innings, the Trojans broke through in a big way. Tyson Mortham doubled, Florida State commit Chase Fuller was intentionally walked and Bennett Malone walked to load the bases. Jayson Parker then ripped a single that scored all three runners to give Lincoln a 3-0 lead.
Niceville answered in the fourth. Thomas singled, Colton Cook singled to score Thomas, Lincoln Broussard doubled to plate Cook, and after CJ Bolden was hit by a pitch, Remington Crum singled home Broussard to tie the game at 3-3.
Lincoln wasted little time reclaiming the lead. Malone doubled and Parker was intentionally walked before Carson Koch singled to score Parker. Robert Quinn drew a walk, and Luke Thomas singled to bring home Cody Garber and Koch. The Trojans tacked on more in the seventh, aided by a series of Niceville errors, to push the lead to 8-3.
Ryder Hodgkinson launched a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh to cut the deficit to four, but Lincoln closed out the 8-4 victory.
Game 2: Niceville 9, Lincoln 1
Originally scheduled for Saturday, rain pushed Game 2 to Sunday. Aahron Geleta took the mound for Niceville against Colin Walsh for Lincoln — and everything that could go the Eagles’ way did.
Walsh opened the game by walking Bolden and Deacon Avery before hitting Crum with a pitch to load the bases. Boston Browning brought Bolden and Avery home on a fielder’s choice to make it 2-0.
Niceville loaded the bases again in the third. Browning delivered a sacrifice fly to score Bolden, then Thomas cracked a double that plated Avery and Hodgkinson to stretch the lead to 5-0.
Garber’s RBI single made it 5-1, but the Eagles answered with four unanswered runs the rest of the way. Avery had a hit that scored Broussard in the fourth, Jake Buis added an RBI single in the seventh, and Bolden capped the scoring with a two-run triple to seal the 9-1 victory and force a decisive Game 3.
Game 3: Lincoln 9, Niceville 2
Jake Morvay got the start for Niceville, opposite Jacob Raibon for Lincoln. The Trojans struck first when Malone tripled and scored on an error by Thomas, with courtesy runner Maddox Smith crossing the plate to make it 1-0.
- After three walks in the second, Morvay was pulled in favor of Sean Britton. Niceville responded in the third — Broussard walked, Bolden was hit by a pitch, and singles from Crum and Hodgkinson brought both runners home to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead.
Britton kept Lincoln’s bats in check through the fourth, and with nine outs separating the Eagles from their first Final Four since 2008, momentum appeared to be on Niceville’s side.
Then the fifth inning changed everything.
Malone opened with a single and scored on a triple by Garber to tie the game. Garber then scored on a miscue by Avery. Luke Thomas singled and Lucas Cannady walked to put two more runners on, making it 4-2 Lincoln. A ground out brought two outs, and with a chance to limit the damage, Niceville seemed poised to stop the bleeding.
Instead, Fuller crushed a three-run home run over the wall, sending the crowd at The Hill into a state of disbelief and blowing the game open at 7-2.
The Trojans tacked on two more runs as Niceville’s bats struggled to solve Raibon, and Lincoln advanced to its third straight Final Four with the 9-2 win.
The Eagles will lose significant senior talent heading into next season. Avery, Bolden, Hodgkinson, Broussard, Geleta, Morvay and Cook have all played their final games for Niceville. However, Crum, Thomas, Buis, Browning and Thomas Radliff will all return in 2027.
