After an earlier trip to Texas, Magnolia Heights was on the road again during Spring Break, hitting the Florida Panhandle for the South Walton Showdown.
Once again tasked with facing some stout competition, the Chiefs won two of their three games, earning wins against Cottondale (Fla.) and South Walton (Fla.), before falling in the finale to IMG Academy.
In a whopping 15-0 victory against Cottondale, Cole Prosek sent the Hornets down in order before the Chiefs scored four runs in the bottom of the first. Quincy Pratt delivered a sacrifice fly to score the first MHS run, and Brayden Burford, Shaw Coley and Preston Sowell were credited with runs batted in.
A large portion of the fireworks came in the second inning for Magnolia Heights. Ethan Barnes lifted a three-run homer to left field and later, a two-run double. In all, the Chiefs scored 11 runs in the frame, stretching the lead to 14-0.
Though the Hornets kept things quiet over the next couple of innings, MHS eventually added another run, clinching the win.
In a 4-3 win at South Walton, the Chiefs and Seahawks were locked in a scoreless battle through three and a half innings. That changed in the bottom of the fourth, when South Walton finally scored the first run of the game.
After surrendering two more to the Seahawks in the bottom of the sixth, Magnolia Heights was down to its final three outs with still no runs on the board. However, a homer from Pratt helped to change that, as the Chiefs rallied to complete the comeback.
In the finale against IMG Academy, MHS gained an early 1-0 lead on a solo homer from Prosek. However, IMG responded with a solo homer of its own in the bottom of the second, tying the game at 1-1.
Magnolia Heights battled back in the top of the fourth with three doubles from Barnes, Burford and Sowell, scoring two runs to take a 3-1 advantage. The Chiefs maintained their lead until the bottom of the seventh, when IMG used a grand slam to walk-off a 5-3 victory.
With the loss, MHS dropped to 11-2 on the season.
