After three games on the road, Arnold is heading back home. They will take on the South Walton Seahawks at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
On Thursday, it was close, but Arnold sidestepped Cottondale for a 2-1 victory.
Eli Blair spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered one run (which was unearned) on two hits and racked up 11 Ks.
At the plate, Arnold saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Ryan Laymon, who went 2-for-3 with a triple and a stolen base. Another player making a difference was Josh Lindsey, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, South Walton has not done well against Niceville recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Thursday. South Walton's pitcher stepped up to hand Niceville a 2-0 shutout.
Not much got past Charlie Willcox, who gave up just one hit and racked up seven Ks to keep Niceville off the board.
On the hitting side, Nathan Whitney was excellent, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-2. The team also got some help courtesy of Coleman Borthwick, who scored a run while going 2-for-2.
Arnold's win bumped their record up to 18-2. As for South Walton, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last eight contests, which provided a nice bump to their 12-10 record this season.
Arnold's speedy runners might be the difference in Friday's game. Arnold has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 3.9 stolen bases per game. It's a different story for South Walton, though, as they've been averaging only 1.3. Will they be able to secure the bases, or will Arnold continue to outrun the ball?
Arnold skirted past South Walton 3-2 in their previous matchup back in March. Does Arnold have another victory up their sleeve, or will South Walton turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
