Bozeman outlasts Port St Joe for region championship, Arnold region final bound

PANAMA CITY — Bozeman defeated Port. St. Joe 2-1 to claim the Class 1A Region 2 championship in an eight-inning thriller. The game was a rematch of the district championship game which the Bucks won (9-4) 10 days prior. The Bucks are headed to Ft. Myers for the state semifinals for the second time in three years.

Unlike in the previous matchup, the Tigersharks got to Bozeman pitcher Zac Flitcraft early in the second inning, totaling four hits and taking a 1-0 lead. The Bucks quickly tied the game up in the third, a reoccurring theme of Bozeman returning from a deficit.

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"Our resiliency and relentlessness is what makes us what we are," Bozeman coach Jeff Patton said. "I couldn't be more proud of these guys, they could have flinched but they didn't flinch and they deserve to go to Ft. Myers."

Flitcraft and Port St. Joe pitcher Jentzen Odom put on a clinic for the next four innings, sending the game into extra innings. Flitcraft pitched seven innings allowing four hits and one run.

In comes Lane Hathaway who secured three outs at the top of the eighth inning. With the game in the Bucks hands, third-baseman Brooks Skipper hit a ball in right-center field and galloped his way to third base. The Tigersharks opted to walk Trey Power and Larry Street in hopes of facing weaker batters.

Next in the order was Hathaway who hit a sac-fly into right field, scoring Skipper who crossed home plate and gave the Bucks the region championship and their 26th win this season.

"They wouldn't let Trey or Larry beat them, and Lane had struggles early in the game, but he came through in the clutch as he has for us all year long," Patton said.

Bozeman will face Trenton in the Class 1A state semifinal on May 15.

Arnold (5) - Wakulla (0)

The Marlins make history by defeating Wakulla and reaching the Class 4A Region 1 championship for the first time in program history. Junior pitcher Eli Blair pitched five innings totaling six strikeouts and allowing two hits. Arnold took a 1-0 lead in the second inning and added another four in the fifth highlighted by a Cooper Moss home run.

Moss has two straight games with a home run and has five on the year. The junior came in for cleanup duty, in two innings Moss threw four strikeouts and allowed two hits.

Arnold will host South Walton for the region championship on May 14th. This will be the fourth matchup between the teams this season with the Seahawks having a 2-1 advantage.

Banji Bamidele is a sports reporter for the Panama City News Herald. He can be reached at abamidele@gannett.com or through X, formerly known as Twitter, @AdebanjiBamide1.