CRESTVIEW — Powered by a seven-run seventh inning Pace High School’s baseball beat Crestview 10-2.
The Patriots led 3-2 heading into the final frame with all three runs being unearned off Bulldog starting pitcher Ryan Weekley. Weekley walked Pace leadoff batter Bennett Shell to start the seventh. That’s when Bulldog Coach Tim Gillis went to his relievers and things quickly unraveled for Crestview
Dayne Justice replaced Weekley on the mound and walked a batter and hit two others. Seth Forrest replaced Justice and gave up two hits and a walk as the Pace lead swelled to 8-2. Alik Whited was the fourth Bulldog pitcher of the inning.
Whited struck out the first batter he faced before allowing a sacrifice fly that plated the sixth Pace run of the inning. He also gave up an RBI single.
Gillis stood by his decision to remove Weekley based on what he knew at the time.
“He was getting up there in his pitch count – he was right around the 100 mark,” Gillis said. It was his second start of the year so I felt like I needed to take him out. Obviously, that was the wrong decision.
“We are in the age now of developing people. The last thing you want to do is hurt an arm. The bottom line is we still have to throw strikes and we’ve got to catch the ball.”
Weekley breezed through the first inning allowing a one-out walk as he held the Patriots scoreless.
The Bulldogs (7-6) came out hot at the plate against Pace starting pitcher, Trent Short.
Zach Degraaf led off the inning with a double to right field. Degraaf then got caught in no man’s land as Austin Polk grounded to shortstop. The Patriots threw Degraaf out when he wandered too far off second allowing Polk to reach first base.
Corey Armstrong followed Polk and doubled to left field scoring Polk. Armstrong strayed too far from second base with Justice up to bat and was thrown out.
A Justice single and walks to Colter Hancock and Matt French loaded the bases. The inning ended when Devin Wimmer grounded back to Short.
Aided by a pair of Bulldog errors, Pace scored two runs in the third inning. The Patriots scored another run in the fifth to go up 3-1.
Crestview scored a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to pull to within a run of the Patriots.
Hancock reached on a Pace error to lead off the inning. French singled moving courtesy runner Bryant Berry to second. French was picked off first base and Berry took third on the play. Berry scored as Wimmer grounded out to second base.
“We made two outs in the first inning on the bases,” Gillis said. “We had three hits, two of them doubles, and we score one run. That is just unacceptable.
“We obviously didn’t overcome it. Against good teams they are going to hurt you and Pace did.”
Armstrong and Justice had two hits each for the Bulldogs. French and Degraaf each had a hit.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Pace capitalizes on Crestview mistakes