After both having extra time off, the Niceville Eagles and the Navarre Raiders will shake off the rust and duke it out at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Each of these teams will be battling to keep a three-game winning streak alive.
Last Thursday, Niceville was able to grind out a solid win over Fort Walton Beach, taking the game 7-2.
Chloe Bailey
| 03/13/25 @ Fort Walton Beach | 13 |
| 03/11/25 vs Tate | 13 |
| 03/07/25 vs Wicksburg | 8 |
| 03/03/25 vs Gulf Breeze | 17 |
| 02/27/25 @ West Florida | 12 |
| + 2 more games |
Chloe Bailey spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and one unearned) run on six hits and racked up 13 Ks. She has been consistent : she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in seven consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Briana Noles, who scored a run while going 2-for-4. The team also got some help courtesy of Anabelle Shackelford, who scored two runs while going 1-for-4.
Meanwhile, Navarre hadn't done well against Tate recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way last Thursday. Navarre came out on top against Tate by a score of 16-11. The pitching woes were uncharacteristic for the Raiders, who until this contest were averaging four runs allowed.
Navarre got a massive performance out of Karsyn Riddle, who went 3-for-4 with one home run, two stolen bases, and three runs. Those two stolen bases gave Riddle a new career-high. Lily Weaver also deserves some recognition as she snagged her first stolen bases of the season.
Navarre always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .538. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Niceville pushed their record up to 6-2 with the victory, which was their seventh straight on the road dating back to last season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.6 runs on average over those games. As for Navarre, their record is now 6-1.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Tuesday. Niceville hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.9 home runs per game. However, it's not like Navarre struggles in that department as they've been averaging 1 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Niceville came out on top in a nail-biter against Navarre when the teams last played back in April of 2024, sneaking past 3-2. Does Niceville have another victory up their sleeve, or will Navarre turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
