By PATRICK CASEY
The South Walton softball team hit four home runs and scored in every at-bat to capture the Seahawks first district championship in the sport since 2010 with a 10-1 beating of Franklin County on April 21.
Franklin County struck first in the top of the first inning as Madison Newell singled, moved to second on an error and scored moments later on teammate Scout Segree’s single. Ally Kirvin followed with a single and Calli Westbrook reached on an error to load the bases before Madison Smith hit into a force play to end the inning and leave the bases loaded.
South Walton tied the game in the bottom of the first as Lia Johnson singled and later scored on Rebecca Hubbard’s two-out single.
South Walton went ahead for good in the second as freshman pitcher Alyssa Selvey smacked a solo home run to left-centerfield to put the host squad on top.
The Walton County squad broke the game open with a three-run inning in the third as Maci Roundtree’s single was followed by Tabitha Gaydos’ double. Hubbard then drove in her second run of the game with a single with Leah Ellison driving in another run with a groundout, leading to a Tessa Hendrix single for the final run of the inning before Hendrix was gunned out trying to get to second base.
Selvey led off the fourth inning with her second solo home run of the game to push the lead to 6-1 after four innings with Ashlyn Sachenbacher adding a solo shot in the fifth inning for a 7-1 advantage.
South Walton added three more runs in the sixth inning as Roundtree walked and scored on a two-run shot by Gaydos with the last run pushed across on a single by Alexia Parker for the 10-1 margin.
Every player but Ellison had a hit in the contest for the Seahawks with seven different players driving in at least one run. Hubbard, Sachenbacher and Selvey each had three hits with Gaydos, Hubbard and Selvey driving in two runs apiece.
Segree had two of Franklin County’s six hits as South Walton avenged their lone district loss of the year, a 5-1 hiccup at Franklin County back on March 31, to earn a district championship trophy to go with their collection from 2008, 2009 and 2010.
Selvey had little trouble after the first two innings as Franklin County stranded five baserunners in the first two frames, then managed only to get three batters on base the rest of the way. The visiting team wound up with six hits and took advantage of three South Walton errors early as Selvey struck out only one hitter while walking one. Franklin County put the ball in play but the fielders for South Walton got the ball to Hendrix at first base for nine put-outs in the contest.
South Walton bashed out 18 hits and drew a pair of walks as they chased starter Megan Collins from the game in the fifth inning and sent nine batters to the plate against her replacement, seventh grader Jaylin Charles, in the sixth inning.
South Walton improved to 18-5 overall and handed coach Bob Hartness his first district championship since he took over for Phil Tisa in 2013. The Seahawks made the playoffs last year as a runner-up before losing to Jay in the opening round of the Class A playoffs.
The victory allows South Walton to host an opening round playoff game on April 28 as the Seahawks take on Chipley(15-10) with a win setting up a likely rematch with Jay on May 1 for a trip to the Final Four in Vero Beach.
As the District 4 runner-up, Franklin County(16-11) must make the long drive to Jay(20-3) on April 28.
Team Notes: South Walton has had four previous playoff appearances and holds a 3-4 mark in that time. The Seahawks have faced Chipley twice in the playoffs, losing in the second round in 2008 by a 3-0 score while posting a 2-1 first round win in 2009. The Seahawks are 3-2 in five previous home playoff games. South Walton is 3-6 against Chipley since the 2005 season.
