In a rematch of the district championship, South Walton quickly dispatched West Florida Tech in two games to advance to the Class 3A Elite 8 for the third straight season, continuing to show why the Seahawks are the unquestioned 3A state championship favorites.
Game 1: South Walton 10, West Florida Tech 0
The heart and soul of Seahawks baseball, Coleman Borthwick, delivered another no-hitter, allowing zero hits while striking out six.
South Walton wasted no time at the plate.
Vaughn Howard opened the scoring with an RBI double that brought Borthwick home, and the Seahawks never looked back. After Jaguars pitcher John Hatch walked Justin Didier with the bases loaded, Parker Granse launched a three-run home run to put South Walton up 5-0.
In the fourth inning, Borthwick singled and Nathan Whitney drove him in with an RBI double. The Seahawks broke the game open in the fifth. Granse reached on an error, Carter Hawk launched a two-run home run, and Drew Igou followed with an RBI single that scored Hawk.
Borthwick added an RBI double, and Whitney capped the rally with a sacrifice ground out.
Game 2: South Walton 12, West Florida Tech 1
Through the first three innings, South Walton’s Denton Lord and West Florida Tech’s Harrison Vernier traded zeros in a pitchers’ duel.
The Seahawks broke through in the fourth. Borthwick and Whitney opened the inning with singles, Howard followed with a three-run home run, and Didier added a solo shot. Whitney drove in another run with an RBI single later in the inning, and Igou tacked on an RBI double in the fifth to make it 7-0.
South Walton added five more runs the rest of the way. The Jaguars scored their lone run on an error in the seventh, but it proved too little, too late as the Seahawks punched their ticket to the Elite 8.
South Walton will face Suwannee in the Elite 8 after the Bulldogs defeated Fernandina Beach in their series on Sunday.
