State tournament bound

The Marianna AAA All-Stars defeated Graceville 3-2 Wednesday night in Vernon to win the district championship and advance to state.

Ryan Reed pitched 5 1/3 innings for Marianna to pick up the win, with Will Johnson closing it out in the sixth to pick up the save.

Marianna advanced to the title game with a 12-6 win over South Walton, and finished it off by beating its county rivals.

“We’re excited to go to state,” Marianna coach Meredith Tharpe said.

“This was the end of a long, hot two weeks of practicing. The boys worked real hard to get here and I guess it paid off.”

Marianna jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Seth Gilmore walked and stole home.

In the bottom of the second inning, Ryan Reed doubled and came home on a Will Johnson RBI groundout to make it 2-0.

Hunter Mitchell then singled home Dalton Smith to give Marianna a 3-0 advantage.

Graceville got on the board with two runs in the fourth inning on two singles and an error, to get to within a run.

Reed retired Graceville in order in the fifth inning, but a lead-off walk in the top of the sixth brought Johnson on in relief.

Johnson got the next batter to hit into a force play at second base, then surrendered a single to put runners at first and second with no one out.

But Johnson hung tough and struck out the next two batters to end the game and seal the win.

The state tournament will start July 11 in Paxton.