PANAMA CITY, Fla. — North Bay Haven continued its district dominance Thursday night, rolling past Bozeman 13-3 to claim the Class 2A-1 championship and its eighth consecutive title.
Bozeman struck first, taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the opening inning. North Bay Haven answered immediately in the bottom half, as Bailee Gladden and Ally Brady each crossed home to tie the game at 2-2.
From there, North Bay Haven seized control behind improved pitching and a breakout offensive inning following a brief lightning delay. Pitcher Addison Mallon settled in during the top of the second before weather paused play. Mallon finished the game with seven strikeouts, allowing five hits and three runs.
“It was one of those situations where no one knows how the rain delay is going to play out,” head coach Butch Bernard said. “You just have to corral everybody together and keep focused on what we’re doing. Everybody understood that we were putting pressure on them and just kind of kept it going. It played out in our favor.”
When play resumed, North Bay Haven’s offense ignited.
Ally Brady delivered an RBI double to give her team a 3-2 lead. After Bozeman replaced seventh-grade pitcher Carlee Smith with junior Nya Bautista, the Lady Buccaneers capitalized. Nevaeh Tarr scored on a bases-loaded walk to make it 4-2, and Brady later stole home on an errant pitch to extend the lead to 5-2.
Khloe Hill followed with a two-run single, pushing the advantage to 7-2, and Shasta added an RBI triple for an 8-2 cushion by the end of the second inning.
Bozeman briefly answered in the top of the third when Hayden Morris drove in Addison John with an RBI single to cut the deficit to 8-3.
North Bay Haven quickly put any comeback hopes to rest in the bottom of the inning. Mallon delivered a two-run triple to make it 10-3, then scored on a passed ball, stealing home. Another bases-loaded walk stretched the lead to 12-3.
“If I said there wasn’t motivation, I’d be lying,” Bernard said, referencing a previous loss in the county championship. “It did sting. It was one of many boxes to check this season, and we weren’t able to check that one. But we were playing good enough and just kept riding through it.”
The Lady Buccaneers added one more run in the fifth inning to trigger the run rule and secure the 13-3 victory.
“That’s eight in a row,” Bernard said. “I don’t think anybody in the panhandle can claim that on the softball side of things. That’s something special for this group.”
With the win, North Bay Haven extends its district title streak to eight and advances to the regional playoffs with home-field advantage.
“We’ll prepare for whatever,” Bernard said. “I’m expecting us to be at home, and we’ll be ready.”
Adebanji 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.
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: North Bay Haven softball run rules Bozeman for district title
Reporting by Adebanji Bamidele, Panama City News Herald / The News Herald
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