South Walton two wins away from first state title

SANTA ROSA BEACH, Fla. (WMBB) – The South Walton baseball team is set to compete in their first Class 4A Final Four match in program history on Tuesday night.

The Seahawks (20-10) broke their curse against Bishop Kenny in the regional semifinals, the team who beat eliminated them in back-to-back seasons. They followed it up with a victory over district rival Arnold in the region final.

South Walton has outscored opponents 21-3 in their three regional victories leading up to the state semifinals, extending their win streak to nine games in a row.

Of the four Class 4A teams competing in Fort Myers, the Seahawks have compiled the toughest strength of schedule.

South Walton Head Coach Nick Borthwick said his team took some lumps early to be prepared for the high-level baseball at State.

“We had a lot of adversity early and we overcame the adversity through just coming together as a team and continuing to persevere through the tough losses we had early with that tough schedule,” Borthwick said. “So, we feel like nobody is better prepared than us. We just got to go play our style and keep playing for each other and playing South Walton baseball and we’ll be in good shape.”

The two-seed Seahawks will face three-seed Merritt Island in the semifinals. Coach Borthwick said they’re a tough draw but not too much for his team to handle.

“Merritt Island’s got strong pitching and 11 seniors,” Borthwick said. “They’ve got a very disciplined offense, they play small ball and they run the bases well. So, we’ve got to be prepared for that and we just got to play good baseball. But we’re not change anything that we do, I mean, we’ve got to be who we are and keep playing South baseball and we should be in good shape.”

South Walton and Merritt Island play at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers on Tuesday, May 21. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EST.

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