McDaniel, a member of the Bulldog baseball team, will be at his third school in three years starting this fall having signed a baseball scholarship with Kentucky Christian University in Grayson Kent.

His mother, Holly McDaniel, is the Viking athletic director. Pearson made the move to Crestview when his father, former Viking baseball coach, Brian McDaniel joined the CHS faculty and coaching staff prior to the 2022-23 school year.

Having a father that knows the recruiting game helped Pearson connect with Kentucky Christian.

“I found out about from my dad because he had players play there,” Pearson said. “They’ve kept in contact with me for a while.

“They are talking to me about playing third base or the outfield.”

Bulldog baseball coach Tim Gillis had nothing but good things to say about the young McDaniel.

“He’s an awesome young man,” Gillis said. “And the hard, the hard work that he puts in is very evident. He’s relentless and he’s going to bode well for him in the future no matter what he chooses to do.

“He has been a dream player, great teammate. All the things that that we ask our kids to be he is that. From day one when he got here, he fit right in.”

Pearson said the opportunity to play for Gillis and be exposed to another baseball philosophy will help him as he moves on to college baseball.

“They’re both (Gillis and Brian McDaniel), obviously the two best (baseball) coaches in the county,” Pearson said. “I’ve, luckily been able to be a part of both their programs.”

Without talent Pearson wouldn’t have the opportunity to continue his baseball career. He knows talent will only carry him so far. At the end of talent attitude and work ethic take over as an athlete desires to improve.

“I feel like I’m a team player,” he said. “I’m ready to work hard wherever I go.”

Gillis sees McDaniel’s willingness to work as being an attribute that can’t be measured in visible ways.

“Anybody that works like he does has a chance to go as far as he wants to go in the game,” Gillis said. “The results will keep taking care of themselves. But he he’s not going to stop working, that’s the one thing he’ll do from a baseball perspective.”

Listed at 5-foot-9 and 150 pounds, perhaps the biggest challenge facing Pearson moving forward is his lack of size. Both Gillis and Pearson admitted that he will need to get bigger as he prepares for a more physical college game that plays more than twice as many games as a high school season in Florida.

“I’m working on filling out my body and stuff like that,” McDaniel said.

Gillis believes the size will come naturally and with the growth McDaniel will achieve his full potential on the diamond.

“I think he’s going to get more physical and stronger because he’s still growing” Gillis said. You know from a physical standpoint. He knows the game.

“He’s going to get better swinging a bat. He’s going to figure out the ends and outs of how they’re going to pitch him and those kind of things. He knows the game and when you know the game, the physical part is going take care of itself as you get bigger and stronger.”

This year’s camp is set from 9 a.m. to noon May 30-31 at the Crestview High School baseball complex. Registration will be from 8-9 a.m. on May 30.

The cost of the camp is $75 per child and includes a camp T-shirt, pizza on May 31 and admission to the Justin Richards Scholarship Tournament on June 15-17.

Crestview baseball coach Tim Gillis, who played minor league baseball in the Atlanta organization and has hosted the annual camp for more than 20 years, admits it is one of his favorite events of the year.

“The baseball camp is one of the things we look forward to every year,” said Gillis, a baseball lifer. “It’s how to recharge your (mental and emotional) batteries. You see the look in their eyes, and you see they’re eager to learn and get better.

“That’s the fun part about this thing,” he added.

Not much about the camp has changed through the years. Each year, new Bulldog players step into the role of coaches at the camp. But other than the change in faces the format remains the same.

Campers will be taught the basics of hitting, throwing and some base running.

“We will cover all the fundamentals,” Gillis said “We will talk about arm safety. We also talk a lot about being a good person.

“We also like to have a lot of fun,” he added. “We end up every day with games and try to enjoy it. We are ultimately trying to have more fun.”

Numerous boys who attended the Bulldog Baseball Camp through the years have gone on to play for Gillis and Crestview High School.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that are in our program now that were at the camp,” Gillis said. “Hopefully that’ll be the case again. We just enjoy it.

“It’s a lot of fun. I think (the Crestview players) see what these young kids do and how they watch them,” he added. “(The campers) are going to pay attention to what (the players) say and what kind of car they drive. All things the players don’t think about, these kids kind of open their eyes to.”

For more information about the camp, contact Gillis by email at gillist@okaloosaschools.com or call him at 850-902-3103.

Their sons and grandsons played baseball and other sports at Crestview. Their granddaughter would have played baseball if allowed.

On Monday, April 24, Jim and Nancy Gillis were honored with Jim and Nancy Gillis Appreciation Night.

The appreciation night was the idea of Crestview Bulldog baseball supporters.

“The supporters of this great program have come together to honor the Gillis family, specifically Jim and Nancy,” said Melissa Hodgson St. Vincent, the mother of Bulldog baseball player Anthony St. Vincent. “We have done this to commemorate their decades of unwavering support. They literally do not miss a game.”

Those planning the event kept it from the players until just before the game.

The Gillises and three of their four sons, Tim, Ryan and Andy, were recognized in a pregame ceremony. Steve, the second son oldest, lives in Gainesville and was unable to attend.

Tim, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch on behalf of the Gillis family, said he didn’t find out about appreciation night until a couple of days earlier. Jim and Nancy didn’t know about it until they were asked to join their sons on the diamond before the game.

“We were surprised,” Nancy said. “We didn’t have a clue they were doing this.”

The senior GIllises have been attending games at Crestview for close to 50 years. It is estimated that the couple have seen 1,200 Bulldog baseball games.

Throw in a few hundred CHS football games and those they attended while Tim played college and minor league baseball, and the number swells to close to 2,000 or more.

The Gillises have helped with field upkeep, mending torn uniforms and helping mend and do upkeep on the hearts of the young men that have come through the program. It has all been a labor of love to the community they call home.

“(The Bulldog baseball program) is part of our family,” Nancy said. “It’s just like you do for (your family), you contribute to them.

“We live here and it’s something we wanted to do.”

Tim’s sons, Matt and John, played baseball and football at Crestview before going on to play college baseball giving Tim a greater appreciation for the sacrifice his parents made through the years.

“Obviously, my parents mean to world to me and my brothers,” Tim said. “They have shown us the way to do things. When you do something, you’re all in.

“I think about all the ball games they’ve been to through the years, between baseball and football, I can’t count that high,” he added. “I’m sure there were times they were gassed and tired, but they sure kept coming. They modeled how to do it to me and my brothers and we keep it going.”

Tim knows the importance of having support from his parents and others like them that continue to show up to see the Bulldogs play.

“The guys see that and they see the people that are here all the time, and that’s good,” Tim said. “My parents are here all the time. There are people that are coming to the games that don’t have kids in the program, that just love Crestview.

“Sometimes the young kids don’t really understand or appreciate them maybe as much as us older people do,” he added. “(People without kids in the program attending games) means a lot to me. And it says a lot about our program.”

Williams played the offensive line, defensive line, linebacker, fullback and tight end on the football team. Had he been old enough, there’s a good chance he would have driven the team bus.

Nixon said he’s proud of the resiliency of Williams and the other seniors on the team, Colton Weekley and Tucker Martin.

“(Williams) has had his good times and bad times, but he’s stuck around here,” Nixon said. “I’m proud of how he’s gotten it done behind the plate.

“He’s constantly blocking (what would be) passed balls and wild pitches,” he added. “There was a stat a couple of weeks ago where (in) fielding percentage he was one of the top in the state in Class 1A and I think he’s still there.”

It’s not surprising that a baseball player who also plays football enjoys the physical aspects of catching.

“I enjoy it, I really do,” Williams said of the work and contact associated with catching. “There’s a lot less pressure being at third base where I used to be. I don’t mind the pressure.

“I enjoy it.”

Catching isn’t an easy position on the body. There’s squatting and kneeling on every pitch. There are foul balls that will rattle the facemask.

A catcher must have the reflexes of a cat and a willingness to sacrifice their body to block a pitch. And the only way to learn how to block a pitch is through the constant practice of having balls thrown at you in the dirt.

It’s that process of learning to be a catcher that Williams has found most difficult.

“I’ve had to learn to block balls and train myself to get down on balls and stuff like that,” he said.

Williams’ athletic career at Baker is coming to an end. He was a sophomore when Baker won the 2020 state football championship. He has now been a part of Baker’s baseball revival as the Gators have experienced their best season in more than a decade.

Williams smiles a big smile when reflecting on his senior season on the diamond.

“I’m just really proud of how the team has really come together,” he said. “Coach Nixon is the best coach we’ve had in a while. He brings a lot more to the table, to be honest with you.

“The thing I’m going to remember most is me and Colton as the pitcher and catcher duo,” Williams added. “That has been the best part about it.”

The Bulldogs gave up too many free bases via walks, hit batters and errors. Offensively, a snake bitten Crestview squad couldn’t come up with a timely hit and continued to be plagued by base running mistakes.

The Bulldogs walked nine batters, hit three and made two errors while only getting four hits.

The Bulldogs finished the season with an 11-14 season. And while a team is only as good as their record, Crestview was closer to having a good season than the record might indicate.

Nine of Crestview’s losses were by three runs or less. Seven of the losses by two runs or less. And four of the losses were by a single run.

Two of the Bulldog losses came by a combined total of four runs to Pace, the number one 6A team in the state. The Patriots are ranked fourth in the state across all classifications and 22^nd in the country.

A hit here or one less defensive mistake there and Crestview could very well have been a team that challenged for the district championship or more.

Bulldog coach Tim Gillis was visibly disappointed that the season had ended.

“It’s the end of the year for me and it’s very deflating,” he said. “You put in a lot of work and then the season is over. This is as bad as it is if you talk about the truth.”

The game started out without much fanfare.

Neither team was able to score in the first two innings.

Niceville finally put three runs on the scoreboard in the third inning. Two of the runs were scored by Eagles that walked. Two more walks and a hit batter led to the third Niceville run of the inning.

Crestview tried to answer in the bottom of the inning.

Javin Shoemake reached on an error to lead off the inning. He took second on a wild pitch to move into scoring position.

Just when it seemed as if the Bulldogs were in business, their misfortune continued.

Anthony St. Vincent followed Shoemake and laced a double into left field. Under normal circumstances the speedy Shoemake would have scored easily, but this hasn’t been a normal year.

Shoemake tripped and slipped as he rounded third on his way to the plate. The only problem was he never touched third base before touching home. The Eagles appealed the play and Shoemake was called out.

The call took Shoemake’s run off the board and gave the Bulldogs one less out to work with. Instead of having a run in and nobody out with St. Vincent standing on second, there was one out and no runs with St. Vincent on second.

St. Vincent took third on a Niceville wild pitch and scored as Aidan Justice grounded out. The Bulldogs wouldn’t score again until the bottom of the sixth after the Eagles added two more runs in the fourth inning thanks in part to a Crestview error.

The score was 5-1 when the Bulldogs came to the plate in the sixth.

Josh Cadenhead reached on a Niceville error to lead off the inning. He moved to second on a passed ball and took third on a wild pitch.

Cadenhead scored as Cooper Cantrell grounded out for the first Crestview out of the inning. The Cadenhead score was the last of the season for the Bulldogs.

Crestview was still within striking distance down by three runs after six. That quickly changed.

With one out in the top of the seventh, Niceville loaded the bases on a hit batter and two walks. Wyatt Wainwright made the Bulldogs pay for the free passes with a grand slam home run deep to left field.

St. Vincent was hit by a pitch to lead off the Crestview seventh, but was stranded as the next three Bulldog batters went down in order.

“We were kind of hanging in there and had it 5-2,” Gillis said. “We made a ton of mistakes and were lucky for it to be 5-2.

“We hit a guy with an 0-2 pitch (no balls and two strikes). We walked a guy and then we walked another guy. And then the guy hits one out.”

The Bulldogs were plagued by injuries throughout the season, but Gillis refused to make any excuses. The veteran coach took the blame for not coaching the team better while praising the group of players he had coached.

“The thing in this world is you have got to overcome adversity,” he said. “Nobody gets through life without adversity and that’s a lesson these kids have learned this year.

“These are some great kids. I love these youngsters. They’re so some of the most pleasant young men that I’ve ever been around.”

“It’s been 18 years or something like that since we’ve won as many games,” said Gator coach Preston Nixon. “It depends on what we do the rest of the way.”

The two teams that beat the Gators, Walton and Destin, both have losing records so all of the remaining games were winnable.

As boring as it might seem, Nixon said the key to the team’s success has been players showing up and working to improve as a team and individually.

“They just come out and work every day,” he said. “They never give up and we’ve been in all but a handful of games.

“They’ve pushed through (adversity) and come out on top,” Nixon added. “Watching them every day, I knew we could be pretty good.”

The Gators have been solid at the plate with five players hitting above .300.

Senior Ethan Williams leads the team with a .375 average. His on-base percentage, .524, and slugging percentage, .437, also lead the team.

Judah Morse is hitting .357; Tucker Martin, .333; Wyatt Straight, .324; and Colton Weekley, .324 round out the Gators hitting better than .300.

The Gators have been equally impressive on the mound.

Weekley leads the team with three wins and his 2.66 earned run average is best on the team. Kurt Armstrong is second on team in wins, with two and ERA with a 3.00 average. Straight has a 3.86 ERA.

Weekley, Armstrong and Straight are the only pitchers to work 10 or more innings.

The season has been special as Nixon has watched players step up even when others aren’t having a good game.

“These guys show up and when someone is having a bad game, someone else picks them up,” Nixon said. “You know Colton Weekley, Wyatt Straight, Ethan Williams, Tucker Martin, Kurt Armstrong, it’s one of those things when if someone is down, it’s the next man up.”