Sophomore Matt Cronin had two impressive relief appearances in Navarre’s pre-season games, but the results were not as good in his starting debut to open the 2014 regular season. Four walks, three stolen bases and two batters reaching base safely after dropped third strikes led to four unearned first inning runs for the Choctaw Indians. The Raiders never recovered. Jeff Rutledge relieved Cronin, but Choctaw added a run in the second on two singles, an error, and a stolen base.
Two Navarre soccer standouts have been invited to play for a newly formed Women’s Under 20 (W20) team that in northwest Florida. The Panhandle W20 team comes under the head coaching direction of David Kemp, the Director of Coaching at The Gulf Coast Texans.
Coming off the field after the Raider’s game on Friday, head baseball coach David Meredith was clearly pleased with what he had seen from his team the last two nights. “We had a great comeback in the first game and went toe to toe with the two time defending state champion in the next.” When asked what he sees as the greatest strength of this year’s team, Meredith was quick to respond, “Our leaders.” “The boys have been working really hard and have done everything the coaching staff has asked of them to become better players and a better team.” Meredith added, “This team has personality and they are a fun bunch to coach.”
In front of a cafeteria full of students, with teammates, coaches and family members nearby, two Navarre High School seniors, Gatlin Casey and Christian Gill, signed National Letters of Intent last Wednesday declaring where they would play college football this fall. Casey signed with Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA, while Gill signed with Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C.
Led by state champion, Kylie Shelley, the Lady Raiders placed second in the state weightlifting meet held in Kissimmee on Feb 8. They finished second to Spruce Creek for the fourth time. The final score was 28 to 17.
University of West Florida’s first football coach Pete Shinnick was introduced to the community Thursday, and he has already started working to recruit a staff and team for the 2016 season.
Crestview entered the boy’s district basketball tournament as the top seed, and they showed why beating Navarre 53 to 38 Friday at Fort Walton Beach High School. The Bulldogs held a double-digit lead for most of the game and for the entire second half, never giving the Raiders a chance to pull close enough to pressure them.
This year’s Navarre Raiders basketball team had two seniors, Gatlin Casey and Blake Malter and the team sent them off in style in their last home game Saturday with a 69 – 59 win over Walton.
Local football standout Doug Baldwin and his Seattle Seahawk teammates entered MetLife Stadium Sunday looking for the franchise’s first Super Bowl title, and 60 minutes of game time later they achieved their season-long goal by defeating Denver 43 to 8. But for Baldwin it was more. It was the culmination of a dream he had shared with his high school football coach at Gulf Breeze many years before.
