CRESTVIEW — Dayne Justice lived the dream of every baseball player Wednesday.
Justice, Crestview High School’s first baseman, stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and the District 1-7A game with Navarre tied 2-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The advantage went to Justice when the Raiders were forced to bring the infield in to try and cut down the winning run at the plate.
The drawn in infield proved to be the difference as Justice bounced a high chopper over the head of Navarre’s third base to score Bryant Berry from third and give the Bulldogs the 3-2 win.
Crestview-Navarre baseball photos>>>
The inning started innocently enough when Bryant Berry was hit in the foot by a Octavian Moyer pitch. Moyer than walked Corey Armstrong to bring Colter Hancock to the plate.
Moyer’s first pitch to Hancock was a strike. The second pitch not only was a ball, but a wild pitch as well moving Berry to third and Armstrong to second. The Raiders elected to intentionally walk Hancock to set up the force at the plate and a double play.
The decision to walk Hancock to get to Justice was one of high risk versus high reward, but it was the only one Raider Coach Scott Murphy could make with the game tied in extra innings.
“It feels great,” Justice said of his winning hit. “They had to walk Colter because he’s a great hitter.”
The Raiders (7-5, 1-4) struck first in the first inning. Jeremy Julo walked and scored on a Moyer double.
Navarre had two hits in the first inning, but they wouldn’t get another hit until the sixth.
In the mean time Hancock settled into a groove on the mound. At times the Bulldog defense was shaky. But Crestview came up with the big defensive play when needed.
The Bulldogs tied the game in the bottom of the first when Hancock scored Berry from third on a sacrifice fly.
Berry reached base on a fielder’s choice. He moved to second on a passed ball and took third as Corey Armstrong was safe on an error.
Crestview (7-5, 3-2) scraped together second run off Navarre ace Matt Cronin in the second inning.
Nate Gerard led off the frame with a base hit. J.R. Weeks moved Gerard’s courtesy runner, Jeremy Willis, to second on a bunt. Willis advanced to third on a passed ball and scored as B.A. Larkins grounded out.
Navarre tied the game in the sixth inning when with two outs, Cade Taylor, Cyrus Grimes and Cronin had three consecutive hits to score the tying run.
The game remained tied until the bottom of the eighth when Justice helped the Bulldogs prevail.
Hancock went the distance to get the win for the Bulldogs. Moyer took the loss for the Raiders.
“What a battle,” Bulldog Coach Tim Gillis said. “I’m proud of these guys. We battled and scrapped for a couple of runs early. And Colter was just excellent.
“He did a great job like he always does.”
Armstrong reached base safely all four of his at bats and played a flawless shortstop. Gerard had two hits for Crestview.
EmailNews Bulletin Sports Editor Randy Dickson, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Justice prevails for Crestview (PHOTOS, VIDEO)