Arnold baseball's historic season ends after tough break in regional final

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Late inning call fuels South Walton offense in 6-1 victory over Arnold in the Class 4A Region 2 championship game.

Despite the loss, this season has been historic for the Marlins as they reached the region final for the first time in program history and won 23 games the most in program history. Arnold finish the season 23-6.

"There is so much to be proud of and I told them to walk out of here with their heads held high," Arnold coach Chris Jones said. " We had a great season and lost to a really good team and it is gut-wrenching right now after such a great season."

The Seahawks defeated Arnold for the third time this season and will return to Ft. Myers for the Final Four for the first time since 2017.

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Tuesday night's matchup was littered with Divison I talent, headlined by a future college rivalry between the starting pitchers. South Walton's Braxton Varnes is a Florida State commit and Arnold's Cooper Moss will be heading to Florida.

The Marlins took an early advantage in the first inning when Moss homered in his third straight game. Both pitchers had it going early but four innings in Varnes would be pulled and the Seahawks opted for sophomore Coleman Borthwick, an Auburn commit, to finish the game.

The top of the sixth inning is where things took a turn for Arnold.

With one out and the bases loaded, South Walton hit a ball towards second base, but it made contact with an umpire. Arnold Josh Lindsey grabbed the ball and turned a double play in what would have ended the top of the inning.

However, if a batted ball in the infield gets past the pitcher and hits an umpire before reaching another fielder, the play is called dead on interference and everything resets.

The umpire didn't originally stop the play, and Jones said the confusion amid the wait for the call deflated the team's energy and rhythm.

"The umpire was in front of the fielder and why did he not call a dead ball immediately I do not know, but by rule, it is the right call and it is frustrating," Jones said. "It is hard to take when you turned a double play like that and you a 17-, 18-year-old guy playing your heart out have to go back out there with bases loaded."

South Walton came back out and scored off a surprise bunt, ending Moss' night after five hits and five strikeouts.

The Seahawks then scored twice on bases-loaded walks for a 3-1 lead, and got three more runs in the seventh. Borthwick clinched the victory throwing his seventh strikeout of the night.

South Walton (20-10) will play Merritt Island in the Class 4A semifinal on May 21.

Banji Bamidele is a sports reporter for the Panama City News Herald. He can be reached at abamidele@gannett.com or through X, formerly known as Twitter, @AdebanjiBamide1.