With Chiles surging ahead in the region standings, Niceville needed every win it could get to stay in the race for the No. 1 seed. Thursday night, the Lady Eagles delivered one worth remembering, knocking off a Pace team ranked No. 1 in Florida and No. 16 nationally, 5-2.
- But it was a win that took everything Niceville had.
“Glad to see us bounce back,” Niceville Head Coach Danny Hensley said. “We’ve had some players out, and hopefully it jumpstarts us and gets us on a roll.”
Pace struck first with a solo home run from Kamryn Pierce off Chloe Bailey in the third inning. Niceville answered in the bottom of the frame when Krissa Troutman singled, advanced to second on a fielder’s choice from Quinn Graham and scored on a single by Bailey to tie it at 1-1.
The Lady Patriots regained the lead in the fourth when Kennedy Franz launched a solo shot to make it 2-1. But the Lady Eagles responded again. Carnley Summerlin doubled, and Molly Mayfield followed with a double of her own to plate Summerlin and knot the score at 2-2. Kaylee McKissack then singled to put Kherington Stephens, courtesy running for Mayfield, in scoring position, but Pace escaped the inning without further damage.
Niceville wasn’t done.
After Graham struck out to open the fifth, Pace pitcher Zoey Freeman walked Annabelle Shackelford. Bailey struck out, but Summerlin ripped another clutch double — her second of the night in a 2-for-3 performance. Then Briana Noles hammered a three-run home run to put the Lady Eagles up 5-2 — a blow the Lady Patriots simply could not recover from.
- “It’s only her sixth or seventh at-bat of the season. She’s been hurt for six weeks, and she’s getting better each and every swing,” Hensley said of Noles.
“I was down in the count, my teammates were yelling from the dugout, and I just wanted to have their back,” Noles said. “I tried my best to stay on top of the ball, and it went over the fence.”
From there, the Lady Eagles locked things down, retiring six straight Pace batters to close out the upset.
Bailey was dominant in the circle, tossing a complete game on just 89 pitches. The junior allowed seven hits and two runs — both solo home runs — while striking out seven and walking none. Behind the plate, catcher Mayfield was just as steady, handling all eight of her chances cleanly as part of an error-free defensive effort from Niceville.
“It’s huge, especially since we had a letdown a couple of nights ago against Crestview,” Hensley said. “We didn’t hit the ball, and we came out tonight and faced even better pitching and swung the bat and had better quality at-bats.”
Niceville (9-6) will host Mt. Vernon (Ohio) at home Friday.
Pace (15-2) will travel to Jay on Monday.
The two teams will meet again April 14 at Pace.
