A scary lineup and an ace have Fort Walton Beach softball primed for postseason run

FORT WALTON BEACH — Fort Walton Beach softball coach Taryn Gray understands the embarrassment of riches she faces when making a lineup card.

Aubree Davis and her .481 on-base percentage. Hannah Isham and her .471 batting average. Alyx Hall "slumping" to a slash line of .451/.505/.792, six homers and 35 RBIs. Ava Smith helping her own cause with a .355 batting average and 20 RBIs, and Izzy Douglas just belting out clutch base knock after clutch base knock en route to driving in 20 runs at No. 5.

Including freshman Anna Beyhl's .376 OBP at Mary Miller 14 RBIs, there's really no wrong way to stack the deck in Fort Walton's favor.

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"I'll say this before and I'll say this again, on any given night it's gonna be one of them," Gray said of the depth in the lineup. "I feel for any team if they're all on at the same time, but the cool part is our offense isn't dependent on one bat. We create runs in a lot of different ways."

Gray, a former all-state position player who went on to star for four years at Auburn University, would know talent when she sees it. She's been there and done that, serving as both a role model and mentor for her players' collegiate dreams. Come Wednesday that talent surfaced as the Vikings (18-10) advanced to the Region 1-5A Sweet 16 with a 3-1 win over Fleming Island on their home field.

As Smith spun a one-hit, complete-game gem with nine strikeouts — the final a backward K on the outside corner to strand the tying run at first in the seventh inning — the Vikings' lineup flashed why it's so hard to keep down.

The top-three hitters went a combined 7-fof-11, Davis logging a pair of singles and Isham adding a single and a triple before being robbed of another two base hits after questionable calls at first. The triple to right-center came with one out in the third and the Vikings trailing 1-0. That set the stage for Hall, who entered the night on a 2-for-13 mini-slump.

For any other player, that brief sampling would be of no concern. But this is Hall, who hit .590 as a sophomore with an incomprehensible 1.633 OPS. This is Hall, whose "slumps" are a night without multiple hits.

So when Mallory Blackwell left a meaty fastball high and inside, Hall hit a ball farther than that FWB stadium has ever seen.

Over the baseball team's trucks lining left-center field. Over the second row of cars in the parking lot.

"I saw a fat pitch," Hall said. "I've been struggling at the plate a bit, but I knew that was my pitch."

Smith knew it too.

"She hits tanks," said the senior right hander. "I saw it hit the bat and I knew immediately it was gone. I was so happy because it was such a relief for our team."

Word to the wise for patrons heading to FWB High to see Tuesday's Sweet 16 against the winner of Gulf Breeze and Matanzas, maybe find an alternate parking spot than the just outside the left-center lot.

"I wouldn't park out there either," laughed Smith.

Hall also hit a three-run bomb in last year's region quarterfinal win, so she's no stranger to finding her stroke in the clutch.

"She's been working through something these last few games, so it was really nice to see her keep with it and trust herself," Gray said. "When she trusts herself, it's unreal."

Oh, it's all too real for opposing pitchers. Blackwell had no answer for Hall as she went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored. The last run came on a single to right from Douglas that appeared to have Hall out at home, but the junior went outside past the bag, evaded the tag and dove back to get her hand in for the insurance run and a 3-1 lead.

"Izzy delivers all the time," Gray said. "She's funny in general because you can't tell her she delivers, but she delivers. She's one of those people who gets slept on a lot, and she can flat-out hit."

Echoed Smith: "Izzy, I feel like she's always in there, she's always ready. Anytime we have runners on, she always produces and always does her job."

The three runs proved plenty for Smith, who after a slow start to 2024 is in the midst of a five-game win streak where she's allowed two runs over her last 33 2/3 innings with 34 strikeouts.

"Because I didn't play basketball this year I feel like I had so much pressure on me at the beginning of the season, like I have to be this player to shut everyone down," Smith said. "As the season went on, coach Gray helped me realize that it's not about getting the strikeouts. Yeah, it's amazing, but it's really about being smart and locating my pitches and being competitive so my team can make the plays behind me."

Added Gray: "Right now with Ava it's focusing on one thing, taking a deep breath and attacking the pitch. She's doing a great job with it."

Smith also wears her heart on her sleeve and routinely celebrates big swings and misses and outs.

"I feel like when my energy is up, that radiates through the team," Smith said.

Unlike last year when the Vikings had to hit the road for the Sweet 16, they're guaranteed of at least one more home game as the No. 2 seed in Region 1-5A.

"I couldn't tell you how many people in school today were like, 'We're coming tonight. We're ready. We're excited,'" Gray said. "Being at home, the good part is we have so many good kids that do what they're supposed to do and they want to support our team from the inside-out. The support from the community and our fans means everything to us."

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: A scary lineup and an ace have Fort Walton Beach softball primed for postseason run