USA MVP, South Walton ace Coleman Borthwick continues to dominate

NICEVILLE — As the eight-or-so MLB scouts settled in behind home plate on The Hill Tuesday night with their radar guns and notebooks out, South Walton senior Coleman Borthwick went to work against Niceville.. The right-hander's fastball started at 97 miles per hour in the first inning and ended at 96 in the sixth inning. His slider reached 87 mph and broke sharply below and away the zone, his go-to pitch on a night he'd strike out 11 and allow just three hits during six innings of shutout ball.

As the 6-foot-6, 255-pound Auburn committ and prized MLB draft prospect missed barrels, he barrelled up three balls himself — two for singles and the other an opposite-field drive that was caught at the wall 350 feet from home plate. The hype, the reputation, the Herculean stature ... everything labeling him a Friday night starter on campus/front-end-of-the-rotation MLB arm felt justified as the 17-4 Seahawks won 3-0 over a Niceville program that entered the night 14-5, ranked fourth in 5A and coming off an Elite 8 trip in 2025.

Vote now: Florida Power & Light Athlete of the Week "To be honest with you, the teams we face, it's tough to fill out a schedule," Nick Borthwick, South Walton's skipper and Coleman's dad, said. "You know, we got these guys once, but I feel like sometimes, you know, we pick and choose on the best teams that we can find, and we try. We try to play the best teams out there.

So, you know, that's a heck of a team coach Bruce has over there. " A heck of a lineup too featuring stars like Deacon Avery, who belted 11 home runs last year and signed with Coastal Carolina in the offseason. After Avery attacked a first-pitch fastball in a first-inning groundout, Borthwick fed the senior three straight sliders for a strikeout in his next at-bat.