District champ FWB softball enters regionals on 10-game win streak

Fort Walton Beach infielder Macy Borgen signals to hold the ball during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

Niceville batter Anabelle Shackelford raps out an RBI hit during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

Nicevilles Quinn Graham watches as the the ball gets past Fort Walton Beach infielder Macy Borgen during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

Niceville runner Krissa Troutman is out at second base during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

Fort Walton Beach starter Rilyn Douglas throws during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

Niceville starter Chloe Bailey delivers a pitch during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

Shortstop Sydney Hann moves after a pop up during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

Niceville shortstop Sydney Hann turns a double play during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

Niceville infielder Krissa Troutman gathers in a pop up during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

Nicevilles Valerie Malley crosses the plate during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

Niceville batter Molly Mayfield makes contact at the plate during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

Nicevilles Valerie Malley talks with head coach Danny Hensley during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

Nicevilles Anabelle Shackelford reacts after hitting a double during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

Nicevilles Valerie Malley is safe at second during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

Fort Walton Beach infielder Macy Borgen reaches for a bouncer near third base during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

Niceville pitcher Chloe Bailey celebrates with Sydney Hann after a double play during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville. The Lady Eagles won 9-0.

1 / 21

Niceville softball downs FWB 9-0 at home

Fort Walton Beach head coach Taryn Gray huddles her players during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

1 / 21

Niceville softball downs FWB 9-0 at home

Fort Walton Beach head coach Taryn Gray huddles her players during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

2 / 21

Niceville softball downs FWB 9-0 at home

Fort Walton Beach batter Ava Blankenship fouls a pitch off during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

3 / 21

Niceville softball downs FWB 9-0 at home

Nicevilles Quinn Graham slides safely into third during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

4 / 21

Niceville softball downs FWB 9-0 at home

Niceville head coach Danny Hensley comes out to the mound early to talk with pitcher Chloe Bailey during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

5 / 21

Niceville softball downs FWB 9-0 at home

The Lady Eagles team high fives after the end of a defensive inning during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville. Niceville won 9-0.

6 / 21

Niceville softball downs FWB 9-0 at home

Fort Walton Beach infielder Macy Borgen signals to hold the ball during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

7 / 21

Niceville softball downs FWB 9-0 at home

Niceville batter Anabelle Shackelford raps out an RBI hit during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

8 / 21

Niceville softball downs FWB 9-0 at home

Nicevilles Quinn Graham watches as the the ball gets past Fort Walton Beach infielder Macy Borgen during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

9 / 21

Niceville softball downs FWB 9-0 at home

Niceville runner Krissa Troutman is out at second base during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

10 / 21

Niceville softball downs FWB 9-0 at home

Fort Walton Beach starter Rilyn Douglas throws during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

11 / 21

Niceville softball downs FWB 9-0 at home

Niceville starter Chloe Bailey delivers a pitch during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

12 / 21

Niceville softball downs FWB 9-0 at home

Shortstop Sydney Hann moves after a pop up during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

13 / 21

Niceville softball downs FWB 9-0 at home

Niceville shortstop Sydney Hann turns a double play during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

14 / 21

Niceville softball downs FWB 9-0 at home

Niceville infielder Krissa Troutman gathers in a pop up during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

15 / 21

Niceville softball downs FWB 9-0 at home

Nicevilles Valerie Malley crosses the plate during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

16 / 21

Niceville softball downs FWB 9-0 at home

Niceville batter Molly Mayfield makes contact at the plate during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

17 / 21

Niceville softball downs FWB 9-0 at home

Nicevilles Valerie Malley talks with head coach Danny Hensley during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

18 / 21

Niceville softball downs FWB 9-0 at home

Nicevilles Anabelle Shackelford reacts after hitting a double during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

19 / 21

Niceville softball downs FWB 9-0 at home

Nicevilles Valerie Malley is safe at second during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

20 / 21

Niceville softball downs FWB 9-0 at home

Fort Walton Beach infielder Macy Borgen reaches for a bouncer near third base during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville.

21 / 21

Niceville softball downs FWB 9-0 at home

Niceville pitcher Chloe Bailey celebrates with Sydney Hann after a double play during the Niceville Fort Walton Beach girls softball game at Niceville. The Lady Eagles won 9-0.

FORT WALTON BEACH — On the morning of March 30, defending 4A state champion Fort Walton Beach softball woke up with a 2-10 record.

Outscored 81-37. Shut out four times. No indentity.

Refusing to use the brutally tough schedule as an excuse, Taryn Gray's crew had to have an honest conversation with itself that this wasn't the state champion of last spring. Any past successes had no place in shaping a clubhouse that welcomed in a slew of talented underclassmen and lost four key contributors from 2025.

"I think the lows were just the residual of trying to make yourself the team you were last year but realizing there's different components, different pieces, and I think it took us just a little bit," Gray said. "It took us longer than we anticipated to kind of find a new identity and find like what this team is going to rally around and how they're going to come together. We had to figure out how some pieces were going to fit."

Choctaw flag advances: Diaris Morales has 6 TDs in 'flu game'

Sweet 16 bound: Niceville flag football guts out 1st playoff victory at Eagle Stadium

Five weeks later, the Vikings are 14-12, winners of 10 straight and District 1-4A champs after Izzy Douglas' latest no-hitter against Choctawhatchee.

"They could have said to heck with the season and it's over and it's done and whatever," Gray said. "To their credit, they came together and they changed themselves in that locker room. So I think that you have a senior class that decided that's not how they want to go out and they started connecting more."

At the core of it has been the play of Douglas, the Daily News' 2025 Female Athlete of the Year after going 7-0 and driving in nine runs last postseason.

The senior has a 1.95 ERA with 141 strikouts over 133 1/3 innings, holding opposing batters to a .196 batting average while allowing just eight extra-base hits. At the dish, she's batting .305 with 15 RBIs and nine extra-base hits in the cleanup spot.

"I think that she's pitching lights out right now and she's ready for playoffs," Gray said. "And I think our defense behind her is ready for playoffs."

So lights out that she didn't even celebrate the recent no-hitter against her rival.

"If you know Izzy, you know it's always business as usual," Gray said.

The same can be said for the heart of the lineup. Sophomore Macy Borgen and her team-leading 16 steals, 19 runs and .430 on-base percentage is thriving at leadoff, sophomore Breanna Williams has a a team-best 12 extra-base hits and a .396 OBP in the two-hole to set the stage for junior Anna Beyhl, who's healthy and swinging a team-leading .426 bat.

Paired with freshman Ava Blankenship's team-best 17 RBIs and three homers and Elyse Heymann's 13 RBI and seniors Douglas, Meredith Miller, Anna Abernathy and Kelsie Hearne, the lineup is averaging seven runs during the current 10-game win streak.

This is why Gray and her staff never panicked.

"The bones were always good," she said. "I think for me and my staff, our main goal is development, and that's development of how we're going to play, how we're going to work together and what it's going to take to play in playoffs. The standard is always to go to state, to make a postseason run. One of the things we do a good job of is we get into the nitty gritty details at the beginning so that by the end, the kids start understanding what they need to do without constantly being told.

"The thing with this team is you have kids who haven't done it before mixed in with kids that have, so there can be a little bit of frustration and it's not anything negative, it's more like some people don't know what they don't know until people present that. So it's just kind of learning to blend and I think they've done of a good job of really putting the care into it off and on the field. Now they're able to trust each other heading into the playoffs."

Regionals start May 6 with Fort Walton set to be seeded third and host the quarterfinals.

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Fort Walton Beach softball is on 10-game win streak entering regions