South Walton stays soaring with victory over Rutherford Rams in return home
SANTA ROSA BEACH, Fla. (BVM) — It was an action packed night at the Hawks Nest this Friday night as the (6-1) South Walton Seahawks hosted a regional foe in the (2-5) Rutherford Rams.
Before the regional game started, many from the community came out to show support for the South Walton baseball team who unveiled their new state of the art facility. The Seahawks baseball team had many different fun events at the unveiling ranging from an alumni baseball game, to a Home Run Derby, a live band, and even an open house tour of the new facility.
The baseball facility includes all new batting cages, renovated press box, an all new away dugout, and new home dugout that includes a locker room for the players. The home dugout also is equipped with adequate storage and coaches office. We can not forget the all turf field, as well.
“It was a great experience getting to come back and watch the unveiling of the new baseball complex,” Austin Garofalo, a South Walton and Troy University baseball alum said. “The baseball team and Coach Borthwick deserve the new complex. It should help the future of the baseball program immensely.”
Along with the night came the South Walton Seahawks first home football game at the Hawks Nest. The game came after a three game road stint, with the student section donning a “Pink Out” theme for breast cancer.
The Seahawks powerhouse offense got off to a slow start in part to a handful of penalties on the opening drive. They bounced back on the second drive with a designed run by Kemper Hodges, his first of five touchdowns, which put the Seahawks out on top. That is where South Walton would stay for the remainder of the night.
“I knew that they would eventually figure it out,” head coach Phil Tisa said. “Don’t like slow starts but I thought our defense came out hot, you know kept us in there when the offense struggled and that is something we haven’t had in the past.”
South Walton defense did come out of the gates hot, getting a total of three turnovers. The Seahawks only allowed the Rams to score one time, which came in the third quarter with 4:05 remaining.
“Defense rose to the occasion, I am proud of them and saw some good things out there,” Tisa said. “We gotta continue to build on it, I think we need the confidence of something like that to carry over for the next couple of weeks.”
After beating the Rutherford Rams this past Friday, 40-8, the Seahawks have two remaining games on their schedule before playoffs start. Next Friday the (7-1) Seahawks will be going on the road to face the Vernon Yellowjackets. After that, South Walton will wrap up its regular season schedule at home against Lighthouse Private Christian Academy.
“I feel good about where we are at, [but] not satisfied,” Tisa said. “I still think there is plenty of stuff to improve on, I think the second half showed that. I mean going down the stretch you have got to continue to get better, the teams are only going to get tougher.”
