Sports Archive

J.J. Bleday put his bat on the ball in the bottom of the fourth inning Wednesday night and sent it soaring over the wall in right field, helping the Pensacola Blue Wahoos erase a scoreless tie.

It was the first home run of his professional career and provided a shot in the arm for the Double-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins in their 4-1 victory over the Birmingham Barons at Blue Wahoos Stadium.

A year ago, there was no spring football for the Navarre Raiders. The COVID-19 pandemic axed those plans.

But Monday afternoon Navarre was back on the field ready to roll.

Navarre athletic director Scott Murphy has told me the story before about the time the Raiders were at the state softball tournament and someone mispronounced Navarre while also wondering where the heck the town was in Florida.

That was more than a decade ago.

Navarre’s Bri Edwards is headed to nationals in gymnastics after a successful run at the state and regional level.

Edwards is one of seven athletes representing Region 8 at the national meet, which takes place May 16 at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach.

Thomas Leggett will have to prove the doubters wrong one more time.

Hoping to be taken in the NFL Draft two weeks ago, the seven rounds came and went without Leggett hearing his name called.

Expectations were high for Navarre’s Rachel Leggett, Talin Griffin and Tyson Morgan at the 4A state track meet Saturday in Jacksonville.

And while the dream of a title didn’t become a reality for them at the University of North Florida’s Hodges Stadium, not all was lost.

A little more than a month ago, Rachel Leggett was still trying to get to the 5-foot-6 mark in the high jump while Talin Griffin and Tyson Morgan were battling injuries that kept them from competing in the pole vault.

Today at the University of North Florida’s Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, all three Navarre athletes are heading into the 4A state track meet with high expectations and the belief they can contend for a title.

In those final moments of an historic flag football season Friday, the players on the Navarre sideline were still clapping, still encouraging each other to not give up.

Forget about the 15-point deficit they were staring up at or that their dream of a state championship was about to end on a sun-splashed afternoon in Jacksonville.

The state championship is now only within reach for four schools.

Navarre is among the elite still standing heading into Friday’s 3 p.m. 2A state semifinal against Newsome at Mandarin High School in Jacksonville.