Cambell Toulan got the start in the pitcher circle for Crestview. Toulan held the Aggies scoreless for the first two innings with the help of a great defensive play by third baseman Paige Dietz in the first inning.

Tate had runners at second and third with one out when Peyton Womack hit a line shot that Dietz grabbed on the fly and then touched third base to retire Lacy Wilson for the third out of the inning.

Crestview’s Ava Secor and Julian Forrest walked in the home half the first inning but were stranded on base.

Tate scored two runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings before adding three runs in innings six and seven.

Forrest took over in the circle in the fifth inning and didn’t have any more success than Toulan in shutting down the Tate attack. Some of Crestview’s wounds were self-inflicted on defense, which only helped the potent Lady Aggie attack.

The Lady Bulldog hits in the first four innings were Irie Wolfgramm and Mayson Feller.

Crestview’s bats came alive in the final two frames as the Lady Bulldogs pounded out nine hits to finish the game with 12 base knocks in the game.

Feller led off the sixth with a base hit. Forrest had a hit with one out. And as the old saying goes, the hitting was contagious.

Both Dietz and Toulan doubled. Wolfgramm and Riley Copeland singled. Feller, Forrest and Toulan scored in the sixth.

Bella Gibbons, Forrest and Dietz picked up hits for Crestview in the seventh inning. The double by Dietz scored Forrest for the final Crestview run.

Lady Bulldog coach admitted that it is far enough into the season that the freshmen and sophomores should be playing like sophomores and juniors. He said that Tate is one of the better hitting teams in the area and the Lady Aggies are tough to get out when a team plays flawless defense.

“The biggest thing I’m proud of is we didn’t quit,” he said. “We are young. But being young is only an excuse for so long.

“It’s time to grow up. And we are going to keep working until we put it together.”

In a battle of Lady Gators that was moved up an hour to deal with the stormy weather in the area, it was good news for the home team. Baker avenged its loss to Escambia earlier in the season with an 11-1 win. The game was called in the sixth inning because of the run rule.

Senior pitcher Victoria Beckworth was lights out in the circle. Beckworth went the distance and allowed just three hits and one unearned run. She only struck out two Escambia batters but didn’t walk any, forcing the visitors to put the ball in play.

When Escambia did put the ball in play, more often than not it ended up an out. Baker did make two errors, one of which led to the Escambia run. But there were plenty of defensive gems by Baker as well.

Blakely York threw out a runner at second base from left field. Catcher Emily Whiddon threw out an Escambia runner trying to steal second base. The only Escambia base runner to make it past second base was Olivia Burgeois, who scored in the fifth inning.

Baker wasted no time taking control of the game.

Mylee Frazier and Addie St. John drew walks to open the home half the first inning. Both players scored on a triple by Carlie Hopps. Hopps scored as Hannah Twitty was safe on an error.

Baker added a run in the third inning playing a little small ball. Jenna Fedorak singled to get things started and was replaced on base by pinch-runner Zoe Moncada.

Moncada stole second base, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Whiddon and scored on a squeeze play bunt by York.

Frazier and St. John scored in the fourth inning as Baker stretched the lead to 6-0.

Frazier led off the inning with a single and scored on a throwing error. St. John walked, took second on a bunt by Hopps and scored when Beckworth delivered a base hit.

Baker was up 6-1 going into the bottom of the sixth and put the game away,  sending nine batters to the plate and scoring five runs to complete the victory.

St. John, Twitty, Moncada, running for Fedorak, Whiddon and York all scored. Frazier drove in York to push the Baker lead to 10 runs and end the game.

Frazier walked, had two hits and scored two runs. St. John walked three times and scored three runs. Hopps had two triples, drove in two runs, scored a run and had a sacrifice bunt.

Twitty scored a run, drove in a run. Beckworth tallied a hit and drove in two runs.

Baker coach Mark Wilde was happy with the way the Lady Gators looked in taking the win.

“They got us the first time, but we were a different ball team tonight,” he said. “We’ve really jelled. They played like I know they can play.  It was an all-round game. We hit all eight cylinders tonight.”

Niceville scored all the runs it needed in the first two innings, striking for three runs in the first inning and two more in the second inning. The Lady Bulldogs finally got into the scoring column with a pair of runs in the third inning.

The Lady Eagles added single runs in the third and fourth inning. Crestview seemed to be still in the game when the Lady Bulldogs scored a run in the top of the fifth inning to pull to within four runs of Niceville with the Lady Eagles leading 7-3.

The scoring was done for the night when Niceville added three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Julian Forrest got the start in the circle for the Lady Bulldogs and worked into the sixth inning before giving way to Cambell Toulan with two runners on base and nobody out. Toulan worked out of the jam to hold Niceville scoreless. But the Lady Bulldog bats were silent in the top of the seventh inning.

Toulan doubled to lead off the Lady Bulldog third inning. It was the first Crestview hit of the game Lady Eagle ace Natalie Miller.

With one out, Bella Gibbons reached on an error by the Lady Eagle right fielder and Amy Secor beat out an infield hit to load the bases.

Tianna Hill delivered a hit to score Toulan. Mayson Feller hit a ball to the Niceville shortstop, who stepped on second base to retire Secor for the second out of the inning. Feller hustled down the line to beat the throw to first and avoid the double play as Gibbons scored.

Irie Wolfgramm was hit by a pitch to lead off the fifth inning for Crestview. She scored as Feller reached on an error.

The Lady Bulldogs had the bases loaded with one out but were unable to cut any further into the Niceville lead as the Lady Eagles got out of the inning with a double play.

Secor and Feller each had two hits for the Lady Bulldogs. Toulan and Mariah Keith had the other Crestview hits. Keith as did Toulan doubled.

Lady Bulldog coach John Toulan refused to use the youth of the Lady Bulldogs as an excuse while acknowledging Niceville is the proverbial elephant in the room.

“We need to get this monkey off our back,” he said. “With our talent, we could be there. We’ve got to get there.

“We only have two pitchers, and they are both sophomores, so you have to try and mix some things up. At the end of the day, we have to hit some. But we are going to do it and I think the kids are starting to believe that.    

“Addie is a leader,” he said. “She pretty well takes charge with the way she plays behind the plate. She’s young and she’s got a lot of skills.

“At times she has played shortstop (this year), but other than that, she’s played catcher,” Wilde added. “You have to have a good player behind the plate to go with the one in the circle (pitching), it’s the combination.”

The 2024 season isn’t the first time St. John has played catcher, but it’s the first time she has been the starting catcher. She is embracing the experience behind the plate for all it’s worth.

“It’s been really great,” St. Johns said. “I get more experience around high school. I can command the field more and have more respect. It opens my eyes to the competition I face, and it helps me to be a leader more.”

The gear a catcher wears of face mask, chest protector and shin guards are often called, “the tools of ignorance,” not because just anyone can play the position. On the contrary, a baseball or softball catcher is often one of, if not, the smartest player on the team.

“The hardest part is mentally,” she said. “It’s not just something you can be born with. You have to work at it. It just takes a lot of work and hours of practice (to master the skills needed behind the plate).”

The mental game of the bat and ball sports of softball and baseball is everywhere. A hitter that fails 70 percent of the time is still considered successful.

“The mental state is everything in softball,” St. John said. “It’s definitely not easy, especially when the pitchers have spin on it (the ball). “You just kind of have to go for it to give yourself a chance.”

St. John, who hopes to one day play college softball at Florida State, continues to embrace the experience of playing for the Lady Gators in the spring and travel ball throughout the year with the understandable simplicity of youth.

“I like being able to play with my friends and how it has taken me all over the place playing,” she said.

Victoria Beckworth reached on a Freeport error to lead off the inning and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches by Freeport’s Elizabeth Farris. Beckworth scored as Mylee Frazier was save on an error.

Farris held the Lady Gators hitless through five innings before Carlie Hopps singled up the middle with one out. Whatever hope Baker had of a rally was dashed when Freeport turned a double play to get out of the inning.

Eighth grader Emily Whiddon connected on a single with two gone in the bottom of the seventh and was still standing on first base when the game ended.

Only nine Lady Gator batters reached base and Beckworth was the only one to advance past second base.

The Freeport offense wasn’t overpowering, but it was effective.

Beckworth opened the game in the pitching circle for Baker and worked four innings giving up two runs on three hits. The runs came in the first inning as Lady Gator miscues helped keep the Freeport inning alive.

Beckworth didn’t strike out any Freeport batters. She walked four batters and gave up three hits.

Hannah Twitty took over in relief of Beckworth in the fifth inning.

Freeport scored three runs in the fifth inning with Twitty in the circle. Twitty did strike out two Lady Bulldogs in her three innings of work.

The Lady Gators will be off for spring break next week and return to action at Paxton on March29.

Baker coach Mark Wilde said Baker’s performance at the plate on Thursday followed a recent pattern and that spring break was coming at just the right time.

“We’ve been having a hard time hitting the ball the last couple of games,” he said. “We just aren’t finding the center (of the ball to square it up). I think it’s a lot of mental stuff.

“Spring break is going to help them a lot to get refocused.”

And as was the case with the late Hall of Fame baseball player Brooks Robinson, third base is her home.

“It’s gone by so quick,” Dietz said. “I just love it out here and the atmosphere and our team. It’s my happy place.”

Crestview coach John Toolan is quick to praise the defensive play of Dietz.

“The way she is playing third base, she’s lights out,” he said. “When the ball is hit that way, she makes the play. She’s made backhand (stops) on foul balls. She’s done an excellent job. I can’t say enough about her defensive play, it’s unbelievable.”

Toolan said Dietz has been flawless handling a spot on the field known as the hot corner.

“I don’t know exactly how many balls she’s made a play on this year, but I know she hasn’t made an error,” he said. “She’s been hit some scorchers, and the slow rollers that are hard to get.

“We worked this summer and this season on our defensive play, and it’s really paid off for her in the work she put in.”

Dietz has played third base since she was eight. She enjoys the bond she shares with shortstop Cambell Toolan. But it’s the thrill of being in harm’s way on the line drives is what she loves the most.

“It’s the adrenaline rush,” she said. “I love it when balls are hit really hard at me. It sparks something in me.”

She said the backhand play is the most difficult one for her to make.

It’s not as easy for Dietz to turn on an inside pitch as it is for her to hit a golf ball off the tee, but she said she’s working on that just as she continues to work on her defense.

Dietz embraces her role as a senior leader on a team under the direction of a new head coach.

“It’s very important to be a senior leader because we are trying to build a new program,” she said. “We just have to build from the bottom up and keep going.”

Forrest got the start in the circle and worked 4 1/3 innings striking out four and allowing five hits while giving up the two runs to pick up the win.

Toolan worked the final 2 2/3 innings walking one and striking out four to get the save.

“I couldn’t ask for any better pitching,” Lady Bulldog coach John Toolan said. “Jules hit all her spots and she was as good as I’ve seen her all year. We are growing every game.

“We are getting comfortable. It’s been a long time since I called pitches and I think we did a good job together, both of them.”

Choctaw leadoff hitter Gabbi Barnowski was a thorn in Crestview’s side throughout the game picking up three hits and scoring Choctaw’s first run in the top of the first. She was thrown out trying to steal home in the third inning. Alivia Vaughn scored for Choctaw on a wild pitch later in the third inning.

While Barnowski did most of the damage for Choctaw, the Lady Bulldogs spread the wealth.

Ava Secor led off the bottom of the first with a walk for the Lady Bulldogs. She went to second on a bunt single by Mayson Feller. A walk to Forrest advanced Secor to third and Feller to second.

Bella Gibbons drove in Secor with a base hit to left to tie the game at 1-1.

The Lady Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead with a two-out rally when Secor doubled, and Feller followed with a base hit for the run batted in.

Feller singled in the fifth inning and later scored as Forrest grounded out the pitcher.

Gibbons was the last Lady Bulldog to score as she singled in the fifth, stole second base and took third on a wild pitch. Pinch-hitter Moriah Keith then did her job with a base hit to score Gibbons and give the Lady Bulldogs a little breathing run with the 2-run lead.

Feller led Crestview’s attack with three of the nine hits by the Lady Bulldogs. Gibbons had two hits. Secor, Forrest, Keith and Irie Wolfgramm each had a hit.

Forrest walked twice. Secor walked once and Wolfgramm and Paige Dietz were hit by pitches.

John Toolan was proud of the way the Lady Bulldogs stayed the course to get the win.

“What we’ve talked about this year was just not quitting,” he said. “That was a team win. We were putting the ball in play and putting the barrel (of the bat) on it (the ball) and having a lot of fun.

“It was a great win and a momentum builder. They have to figure out that they can win, I know that, and we have to go from there.”