Raiders pull away from Dolphins, clinch #2 seed
Navarre adds six in sixth inning for 10-3 win; GBHS fourth seed in tourney
BY JASON THOMPSON Gulf Breeze News jason@gulfbreezenews.com

Jason Thompson/Gulf Breeze News Kris Matsoukas awaits a pitch in a recent game.

The Dolphin baseball team, with four close losses in district play, had a shot at the second seed in the district tournament when they traveled to Navarre Friday.

Instead, they were handed one of their worst losses of the season (10-3) and in the process, were bumped down to the fourth seed in the six team District 1-4A Tournament, which starts Monday at West Florida.

Gulf Breeze (13-8, 5-5) will face either Washington or PHS in the first round. With a win, the Dolphins will need to beat the hosts/top-seeded Jaguars to earn their first playoff berth in 28 years.

With the win, Navarre clinched the second seed, while Milton, who has a win over the Raiders this season, jumped to the third seed.

Navarre 10, Dolphins 3

Mark Waghalter, who allowed only six earned runs in five previous starts, gave up four in 4 1/3 innings before the Raiders blew it open with a sixrun sixth inning.

The Raiders used a leadoff single, a bunt single and a groundout to take a 1-0 lead in the first before adding two more on a double in the second.

Gulf Breeze, which left runners on in five different innings, cut the deficit to 3-1 in the fourth inning. T.J. Jordan led off with a single. After a pair of wild pitches, Jordan scored on a double steal.

Jordan's hit was the second of only four Gulf Breeze collected on the night - Brandon Scott singled in the second and Kris Matsoukas singled in the fifth.

The Raiders scored once in the fifth before getting a two-run single and a two-run triple in the decisive sixth inning.

The Dolphins scored single runs in the sixth and seventh innings. Corey Downs drew a leadoff walk and scored on a two-out single by Dane Monnin.

Matsoukas drew a leadoff walk in the seventh inning and scored when Jordan hit into a fielder's choice.

Waghalter allowed seven hits before giving way to Thomas Dorsey, who threw an inning before Ben Lively threw the final two outs.

Dolphins 10,Washington 0

Cody Warford and Lively combined on a threehit shutout of the Wildcats April 8 in Pensacola.

Gulf Breeze broke open the scoreless tie with a five-run fourth, thanks to three Washington errors to start the inning. T.J. Jordan, Kameron Brunty and Scott all reached on the errors. Caleb Brown hit a two-run single to score the first two before Patrick Vance hit a two-run double to score Scott and Brown, who went 2-for-4 and scored twice.

Matsoukas followed with a groundout that scored Vance, who also had two hits and drove in three.

Shane Dorlag drew a walk in the fifth inning and scored on a double by Brunty. Scott then singled to score Brunty, while Vance singled to score Scott.

Corey Downs hit a solo homer in the sixth before Matsoukas singled in the seventh to score Brown.

Warford struck out four and walked two in five innings, allowing two hits, while Lively struck out two in two innings and walked three, allowing one hit.

Dolphin JV 15,Washington 1

Alex Ball and Trey Davis both threw three innings and got plenty of support from their offense, who pounded out 12 hits against the Wildcats.

Robyn Hoffpauir had two hits, including a triple, and five RBIs. Tyler McGee also had a triple in the win.

Dolphins 5,

Christian Co., Ky. 4

Waghalter got out of a seventh inning jam to get the save in a win for Gulf Breeze April 7 over Christian County, located 70 miles northwest of Nashville.

The Colonels (5-2) took a 3- 0 lead in the second inning off a leadoff walk, two singles, a bases loaded walk and a twoout, two-strike, two-run double.

Gulf Breeze got to within two when Scott reached on an error and scored on an infield single by Kolton Hanke. GBHS left the bases loaded that inning.

The Dolphins tied the game in the third when Jordan reached base by getting hit by a pitch. He scored on a wild pitch. Brunty then reached on an error and scored on a two-out, twostrike single by Downs.

Brunty and Scott hit two-out RBI singles in the sixth inning, scoring Dorlag and Brunty, respectively.

CCHS scored one in the seventh and were looking for more before third baseman Matsoukas, after fielding an errant throw from the outfield, gunned out a runner at the plate.

Thomas Dorsey allowed four hits and three runs in four innings, walking four and striking out two. Dane Monnin got the win in relief, pitching two innings.

Hanke went 2-for-2 and scored once in the win.