CRESTVIEW — On a night that felt more conducive to throwing snow than baseball Crestview High School hosted Fort Walton Beach in a key District 1-7A game Thursday.
The Bulldogs were in desperate need of a win as they were coming off a 9-2 loss to Tate on Tuesday.
Mission accomplished.
Junior pitcher Colter Hancock went the distance on the mound throwing a complete game shutout to lead Crestview to a 5-0 win.
Crestview-Fort Walton Beach baseball photos>>>
Hancock struck out nine Viking batters while allowing seven hits and walking two.
“I was throwing a variety of pitches,” Hancock said explaining his success. “The defense also helped me out a little bit.”
The Bulldogs were outhit by Fort Walton Beach 7-4, but they were able to find a way to manufacture runs and come up with the big defensive play when needed.
“Colter was really, really good,” Bulldog Coach Tim Gillis said. “He did a great job and kept us in the game. He made big pitches in big situations.
“We played pretty good defense and manufactured some runs. That was the good thing. Any time you can get a district win it’s good.”
Crestview (5-4, 2-1) gave Hancock all the run support he would need in the third inning. The Bulldogs managed to scratch a couple of runs across the plate despite getting just one infield hit.
Zach Degraaf led off the inning with the infield hit off of Viking starter Jared Dunn. Bryant Berry was next and picked up a four-pitch walk from Dunn.
It looked as if Dunn might be able to work out of the jam when he got two quick strikes on Corey Armstrong. But Armstrong showed his baseball savvy by working back and drawing a walk to load the bases.
The walk to Armstrong marked the end of Dunn’s night as Tobias Ward took over on the mound for Fort Walton Beach.
Ward got Hancock to hit into a fielder’s choice to retire Armstrong at second, but Degraaf scored to give the Bulldogs a lead they would hold the rest of the night. Berry later scored on Ward wild pitch.
The score was still 2-0 in favor of Crestview when the Bulldogs came to bat in the bottom of the sixth.
B.A. Larkins reached on an error to start the inning and Dayne Justice was hit by a Ward pitch to give the Bulldogs two runners on with no out.
A one-out single by Jared Gaszak scored Larkins and Jeremy Willis, who was running for Justice. Gaszak scored on a Degraaf single.
The Vikings had some opportunities against Hancock, but couldn’t get the job done.
Johnny Livingston and Joe Guidry had two-out hits for Fort Walton Beach in the third, but the Vikings couldn’t score. Fort Walton Beach loaded the bases in the fifth inning, but came away empty as well.
Email News Bulletin Sports Editor Randy Dickson, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Hancock, Crestview blank Vikings (PHOTOS, VIDEO)