Choctaw softball tops Niceville
By RANDY DICKSON
randyd@nwfdailynews.com
NICEVILLE - Clad in green, the luck of St. Patrick's Day came a little early for the Choctawhatchee softball team Thursday.
The Indians rode the wave of an eight-run sixth inning to beat Niceville 10-4 in a key District 1-5A game.
The win extended Choctaw's winning streak to four games. The loss was the first of the year for the Eagles (8-1, 6-1 district).
"It's nice to see our girls work so hard and get what they deserve," Choctaw coach Billy Rice said. "We got the ball in play and that's something we didn't do the first time against them.
"They are tough and you know they are going to score runs. We put up 10 runs tonight and 12 runs Saturday night - this feels really good."
Thursday the 13th might have seemed like Friday the 13th for the Eagles as the Indians scored in the most unusual ways.
Choctaw (7-5, 5-4) took a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
Chantel Dodge started things off, reaching on a walk and moving to second on a sacrifice bunt by Morgan Brazel.
That's when the bewitching started favoring the Indians.
Hannah Renn struck out on a pitch in the dirt that Niceville catcher Ellen McNair couldn't field cleanly. Dodge raced for third and when McNair double clutched on her throw to first, Renn was safe.
A ball then skipped away from McNair with Aubrey Claxton at the plate and Dodge looked as if she was caught in a rundown, but McNair's throw bounced off her helmet into left field allowing her to score.
Claxton then singled in Renn from third base.
Choctaw's 2-0 lead stood until the fifth inning when the Eagles scored three to go ahead.
McNair, Kelly Hensley and Shannon Brinkley scored for Niceville and Hannah Thummel had a two-run double in the inning.
The Indians reached back into their bag of unusual ways to score in the eight-run sixth despite having just five hits.
Choctaw scored by beating out fielder's choices and on swinging bunts. There were even a couple of runs that were scored the more traditional way - a two-run double to the gap by Miranda Michael.
The Indians sent 12 batters to the plate in the inning, and only Claxton, who led off the inning with a single but was forced out at home, failed to score.
McNair led the Eagle attack with two hits.
Michael, Claxton and Ashley Leonard each had two hits for the Indians.
Niceville coach Danny Hensley was philosophical about the loss.
"It was one of those nights that you expect when you have a young ball club," he said. "All year long we kept expecting that we were going to have one of these.
"Tonight we went up against a good ball club and they gave us one."
Both teams continue with district play tonight as Choctaw travels to Pine Forest and Niceville hosts Fort Walton Beach.
Choctaw 200 008 0-10 7 0
Niceville 000 031 x-4 8 2
W-Chantel Dodge. L- Kelly Hensley
JV: Niceville, 10-0
