PANAMA CITY — Arnold finished a difficult campaign on Monday, while Bay showed it was hungry for another shot at Mosley.
Choctawhatchee eliminated Arnold 8-3 in the District 1-5A opening round at William T. Weeks Field. Bay exploded early and held back Gulf Breeze 6-1 in a minor upset.
Top seeds Mosley and Rutherford await Tuesday in the semifinal round. Rutherford hosts Choctaw at 4 p.m. and top-seeded Mosley faces Bay at 7 for the right to advance to the regional tournament.
Choctaw 8, Arnold 3
Tyler Megill limited Arnold to four hits and third-seeded Choctaw improved to 12-13. Nate Gilmore was one of three Indians with two hits and his home run in the sixth quelled a brief Arnold rally.
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Choctaw committed three errors, one leading to a run, and Kyle Cunningham doubled in another to pull the Marlins (6-18) within 6-3 in the top of the sixth. Cunningham had two of Arnold’s four hits with another double in the second.
Gilmore stroked a two-run homer off Arnold reliever Blake Caldwell to cap the scoring. Zach Jowers and Chandler Emmick also had two hits for the Indians, who scored three in the first, one in the second to lead 4-1 and two in the fourth.
Denver Dangerfield singled in Tanner Kight to give Arnold a 1-0 lead in the first. Ray Peed singled in the seventh for Arnold’s final hit. Bobby Courson took the loss after three-plus innings of work.
Arnold 100 002 0 — 3 4 2
Choctawhatchee 310 202 x — 8 9 3
Courson (L), Caldwell (4), Dutton (6) and Dangerfield; Megill (W), Bludworth (7) and Gilmore. 2B: A 2 (Cunningham 2), C 2 (Whitehead, Gornto). HR: C (Gilmore). LOB: A 3, C 8.
Bay 6, Gulf Breeze 1
Fifth-seeded Bay scored three runs in each of the first and second innings against losing pitcher Kale Jarvis and Sean Nguyen gave up three hits for the Tornadoes before exiting in the seventh inning. The Tornadoes (12-14) cooled over the final five innings, but Nguyen and relief pitcher Blake Seamon pitched out of jams to seal the victory.
Gulf Breeze had base runners on first and second with two outs in the fifth when Nguyen struck out Michael Hawkins for the third time. The fourth-seeded Dolphins (11-17) had runners on first and third in the sixth with two outs before Nguyen induced a grounder to end the threat. Gulf Breeze broke through in the sixth when Jacob Kubik scored on a throwing error.
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Nguyen, who had a no-hitter through four innings, gave up back-to-back singles to start the seventh before recording an out. He hit Kubik with a pitch to load the bases, prompting the change to Seamon. The reliever forced a fly out and put down Cole Nittrauer on strikes to end the game.
Marcus Kinsey was 2 for 4 with an RBI in the first inning to lead Bay. Jacob Brooks drove in two runs for Bay after he was safe on an attempted double play in the second. Bay’s Dylan Mason was 2 for 2 with a double and scored in the second.
Gulf Breeze stranded 11 runners in the loss with another in scoring position in the third. Bay erased a runner in the first on a throw out at second base and forced another at third in the second.
Bay 330 000 0 — 6 8 4
Gulf Breeze 000 001 0 — 1 3 2
Nguyen (W), Seamon (7) and Kinsey; Jarvis (L), Robbins (2), Peek (6) and Hawkins. 2B: B (Mason). LOB: GB 11, Bay 4.