County Baseball Squads Ousted From Districts

By Clint Cox

All five Jackson County varsity baseball squads began their respective district tournaments this week. And the news is not good as all five teams saw their seasons come to an early end. In Class 1A the Malone Tigers took part in the District Two tournament at John Paul Catholic II in Tallahassee. Malone picked up a first round win with a five inning 15-5 romp over FAMU on Monday night. Will Dunaway picked up the win on the mound for the Tigers, going all five innings. Blake Henson led the way offensively going 2-2 with a double, a triple and three runs scored. Hunter Dillard also had a solid night at the plate as he went 2-3 with a triple and two runs scored. With the win Malone improved to 14-9 on the season and advanced to round two of the tournament. On Tuesday night the Tigers took on Munroe in the semi-finals and fell to the Bobcats in a cat fight. In Class 2A District Two action in Bonifay all three county teams found the post season going rough and saw their seasons come to a close. The Graceville Tigers squared off against Bozeman and fell 14-7. Sneads, which had picked up steam as the season progress, battled hard but fell 8-7 to the Seahawks of South Walton. And the Cottondale Hornets took it on the chin in a 10-1 loss to Holmes County. The Marianna Bulldogs took part in the District One Tournament for Class 3A. The tournament is being held in Pensacola at Pensacola Catholic but in an odd twist Marianna’s first round game was at home on Monday against Walton. The Bulldogs pulled out a 5-4 win over the Braves to advance to the district semi-finals on Tuesday night. That contest, played in Pensacola on Tuesday night, was against Bay High and the Tornados ripped through the Bulldogs with a 19-2 win. Bay moves on to take on Catholic on Thursday night for the championship.