Sports

South Walton baseball sweeps Suwannee, punches ticket to Final Four for third straight year

The Seahawks overcame a tight Game 1 before rolling in Game 2 to punch their ticket to the Final Four.

Travis Espy

For Nick Borthwick’s squad, the road to the Final Four has felt more like a coronation than a challenge. Friday night was proof of that, as South Walton overcame a sloppy Game 1 to sweep Suwannee and secure its third consecutive regional championship.

Game 1: South Walton 2, Suwannee 1

The Bulldogs gave South Walton its toughest test since the district championship game against West Florida Tech.

Coleman Borthwick got the start for the Seahawks, while Colton Rogers took the mound for Suwannee. For the first three and a half innings, it was scoreless baseball as Rogers did what few have managed this season — completely silence the South Walton bats.

But in the fourth, the Seahawks finally woke up. Parker Granse ripped a double for the team’s first hit of the game, then scored on an RBI single from Justin Didier. South Walton tacked on another run when Granse singled and Didier again delivered an RBI single to bring him home.

Suwannee got on the board in the seventh when Kyler Watson singled and Grayson Greene followed with an RBI single to bring him home — just the second earned run Borthwick allowed all year. But the Seahawks quickly recorded two more outs to secure the win.

Game 2: South Walton 10, Suwannee 0

Denton Lord started Game 2 for South Walton, opposite Greene for the Bulldogs. This time, the Seahawks jumped on Suwannee early and never looked back.

In the first, Borthwick walked, Nathan Whitney doubled, and Vaughn Howard hit a two-run double to score both runners. In the second, Hudson Quinn singled and Borthwick brought him home with a double to make it 3-0.

Howard singled in the third and was driven in by Didier to push the lead to 4-0. Then in the fourth, Clayton Gerrell walked, Borthwick and Whitney singled, and Howard delivered a bases-clearing single to make it 7-0. Granse followed with another single to extend the lead to 8-0.

In the sixth, Granse scored on a sacrifice fly from Declan Fowler, and Jace Cunningham hit a sacrifice fly that scored Didier to make it 10-0. The Seahawks held Suwannee scoreless in the bottom of the frame to end the game via run rule and punch their ticket to the Final Four.

South Walton will face Miami Springs in the state semifinals at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Hammond Stadium at the Lee Health Sports Complex in Fort Myers. If the Seahawks win, they will play in the state championship Thursday.

The team departed Sunday following a send-off at South Walton High School, where fans gathered to wish the Seahawks good luck as they headed south.

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