Following Pace High School’s 5-1 victory over rival Milton High School, both team are currently tied for first place in their district. Similar to last season, the coaches for both high school varsity baseball teams believe it could come down to a coin flip in order to decide who finishes in first place.
“It will come down to Friday night,” said MHS coach George Blake. “There are many different scenarios, but if we both win it will come down to a coin toss.”
While Pace is scheduled to play against district rival Escambia High School on Friday, Milton will play at rival Washington High School on the same day.
The MHS Panthers are scheduled to play at Crestview High School on Thursday.
PHS Coach Jason McBride said the victory over Milton was much needed after the Patriots were coming into the matchup with a two game losing streak.
“It was good to see our guys bounce back,” he said. “They showed a lot of resilience and that is what it takes to be a championship team.”
McBride credited the play of pitcher Chase Lambert in Tuesday’s ballgame.
“I think our pitcher, Chase Lambert, did a good job keeping them off balance and I felt like he kept us in the game,” he said.
Lambert had seven strike outs in the game, limiting the Panthers to only one score. He also credited the play of Connor Howton, who came into relieve Lambert as pitcher towards the end of the game. McBride said the team also continued to show improvement on offense.
In this season’s previous matchup against Milton on March 6, the Patriots were shut out 2-0.
“I felt like we did a great job against their pitcher Chase Shell, who is really good,” McBride said.
Blake attributed the loss to missed opportunities on both offense and defense.
“There wasn’t much offense,” he said. “Timely hitting wins ball games and we haven’t been getting it done.”
As the end of the regular season begins to come to an end, Blake said it is his goal to get his team mentally prepared for the games ahead.
“Being younger guys, they tend to wear (a loss) a little bit longer than the coaches,” he said. “We just got to prepare for down the road.”
Both coaches are confident their team’s will meet again in the post season, specifically in the district tournament in which both teams would have a first round bye.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Baseball: Milton and Pace tied for first in district