The Gulf Breeze Dolphins will head out on the road to take on the Niceville Eagles at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Gulf Breeze comes in on eight and Niceville on four.
Gulf Breeze barely beat Milton the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Dolphins were the clear victors by a 9-1 margin over the Panthers on Thursday. The Dolphins might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven contests by six runs or more this season.
Presley Moseley spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered a run (which was unearned) on two hits and racked up nine Ks.
On the hitting side, Gulf Breeze saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Parker Boyd, who scored a run while going 1-for-3. The dominant performance also gave Boyd a new career-high in RBI (two). Roman Jackson also deserves some recognition as he hit his first triple of the season.
Meanwhile, Niceville faced Pace in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Tuesday. The Eagles never let the Patriots get on the board and left with a 7-0 win. The Eagles are also no stranger to big wins: their blowout was the tenth match they've won by 6+ runs this season.
Not much got past Brady Martin, who gave up just a hit and racked up eight Ks to keep Pace off the board. Martin has been consistent : he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in seven consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Deacon Avery was incredible, going 2-for-4 with one home run and three RBI. Another player making a difference was Nicholas Gates, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two RBI and one double.
Gulf Breeze's victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 15-4. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.0 runs over those games. As for Niceville, their record now sits at 18-3.
Gulf Breeze couldn't quite finish off Niceville in their previous meeting back in February and fell 4-2. Can the Dolphins avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
