By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

After a 10-0 district loss to Townsend Homes on Wednesday, Fatty’s Restaurant had the opportunity to quickly turn the page: a trip to sunny Florida awaited on Thursday.

Some success awaited them.

Riverside-based- Fatty’s Restaurant went 3-1 in pool play in the Ft. Walton Beach Classic tournament, reaching the semifinals before bowing out with a 10-6 loss to Hendersonville.

“We treated it as a season,” said Fatty’s Coach Britt Waguespack. “We went out to try and prove a point. We’ve been taking some beatings. We’ve played some good baseball, but inconsistently.

“But playing five games back-to-back like we did, it puts the pressure on to show up to play each time.”

Hendersonville led 7-0 in the semifinal game after three innings and 8-1 entering the bottom of the fourth.

But Fatty’s (7-10) scored five runs in the inning to close the gap, making it 8-6.

Hendersonville responded in the sixth, scoring two runs that would ultimately clinch the game.

Justin Newbauer took the loss for Fatty’s. He went four innings before giving way to Trevor Kenney, who finished the game.

Austin Vicknair had a double and two RBIs. Dylan Martin, Chase Bazile and Bobby Smith each had RBIs in the game.

Waguespack said that his pitching staff wore down, the result of playing nine games in six days.

“We brought seven arms, and they all went as far as they could go,” he said.

Oh Thursday, Fatty’s split two games in pool play. In the first, Jake Roussel’s two-run home run in the first inning got Fatty’s off to a fast start, propelling the team to a 7-3 win over Choctawatchee High School.

Martin’s RBI double in the third inning put Fatty’s ahead 3-0. Choctawatchee cut the gap to 3-2 in the fourth, but Fatty’s answered when Bazile doubled home Roussel and Dylan Becnel to make it 5-2.

Singles by Bobby Smith and Kaleb Bush in the seventh led to a Vicknair RBI base hit to cap the Fatty’s scoring.

Ritchie Terrio picked up the win. He struck out four and allowed six hits.

Rain delayed Fatty’s next game for an hour, and Excambia High bounced back faster, scoring four runs in the third inning to best Fatty’s 5-3.

Dylan Martin took the loss for Fatty’s.

Vicknair, Martin and Bryant Tassin all had RBIs in the game.

Fatty’s would not lose on Friday, going 2-0 with dominant wins over Freeport and Baker.

Fatty’s scored at least one run in every inning on its way to a 12-2 win over Freeport. Becnel picked up the win, allowing four hits and two runs over four innings.

Vicknair scored four runs and went 3-for-3 with an RBI. Martin was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Remi Poirrier, Roussel, Bush and Todd Millet all had RBIs.

The team’s next win saw much of the same, as it led 5-0 before an eight run fourth inning finished Baker. Fatty’s notched a 13-0 win to clinch a berth in the semifinals.

Martin was 2-for-3 with three runs. Poirrier, Roussel and Bazile each went 2-for-2 with two RBIs.

Ashton Perret allowed one hit over five innings and picked up the win.

“The main thing is, it was more baseball for us,” Waguespack said. “It wasn’t so much about wins and losses. We have a lot of new faces, and they got a lot of experience.”