DESTINFM SCOREBOARD SHOW FRIDAY MAY 8TH, 2026

The Destin FM Scoreboard show is a Weekly Show hosted by DestinFM's Sports Director Rich Quinones, who takes an in-depth look at the local HS and College Sports scene, from recaps, to previews to in-depth interviews and breaking news! 

Q has you covered! If you are looking for 100% local sports coverage in the Emerald Coast, this is the podcast for you. 

On today's show, Q opened up with local flag football news, did the great run by the Destin High Lady Sharks continue? And a huge milestone for one local college softball coach, plus minor league baseball updates and SEC Baseball news involving Alabama. 

Always remember to get social with us, follow us on Facebook DestinFM, on IG @destinfm and x @destin_fm and tiktok @DestinFMradio

Catch Q with the DestinFM :60 scoreboard every Tuesday and Thursday during Surfs up in the Mornings. 

Get the latest by downloading the free DestinFM app in the App Store, Google Play, or at DestinFM.com.

DESTINFM SCOREBOARD SHOW

DESTINFM SCOREBOARD SHOW

DESTINFM SCOREBOARD SHOW

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey sports fans, welcome into another edition of the Destin FM Scoreboard shows. We're coming at you live inside the friendly confines of the Dustin FM Remote Studios. As always, I'm your host, Rich Kanyunis, and another Wild Week in High School sports in our region. And there might be several Q shout-outs on this episode of the Scoreboard show. So during the week, we gave you guys a lot of flag football updates on the 62nd scoreboard. And let's just start there because Destin just continued their hot run. They stunned, upset, if you will, top seed at Florida High earlier in the week, 19 to 12, and in the process advanced to the Elite Eight of the FH SAA 1A20. Now, they had a rally in this one. They were down at the half. They showed a tremendous amount of poise heart. We've documented and highlighted their all-world talent, their quarterback, Neilia Stewart, who led to come back. Destin wakes up in the third. They scored 19 unanswered points. They got what they needed from the offense. The defense made stops late in the fourth quarter. And again, we talked about this all week long. They need it to make stands, and they did. Now, fast forward, no rest for the weary. Couple nights later, you turn around Thursday night, and here we go. You tangle against Bowles on the road in the Elite Eight. Bowls is a very good defensive team. They get timely first downs. They got a decent air attack. They can't run the ball as well as, say, a Destin squad, but they did uh defeat University Christian 20 to 6 on Monday night to advance. So 16 and 2, perhaps another upset for the Lady Sharks against a team that's won 10 straight overall, and they've shown their ability to put teams away. And as I mentioned, they're only averaging, they came into this contest, averaging about 25 yards a contest, but they score a lot of points. So, how did the Lady Sharks fare? Well, their historic season ended in the Elite Eight loss against Bulls. They fell 40 to 13 in Jacksonville on Thursday night. And listen, say what you want about the loss. This is a season that produced the first two playoff wins in Destin high school history. Think about that for a moment. With all the great athletes to come out of Destin High and all the great sports programs, you're talking about playoff wins, and it, the two of them belong to the flag football team. That's unbelievable. It really is. And they gave the community such a thrill. Shout out to the coaching staff, shout out to the school, shout out to all the players. Unbelievable. Bulls is just a tough team. They really are. And you're going to see a different turnover of faces, if you will. Now, Bulls, real quick, they're going to take on Somerset Academy. They defeated John Carroll Catholic. They blanked him. They shut him out on Thursday night in the Final Four. Uh, they go to Tampa next weekend. They uh win that one 20 to nothing. But if you are a Destined fan, you do have to say goodbye to a couple of the seniors. Uh, Eevee Um Gerdovich, Bailey Gaffney, uh, Elena Martin, Sarah Oaks, and I believe Mia Castananata is also a senior. But quarterback Stewart's gonna hang around, right? They got a couple other players returning. Uh, and now you've got something to build upon. You've got success. You, you know, we we call it a little equity in the bank on the resume. And I'll tell you right now, this team's gonna come back stronger and better next season. And what do you do for an encore? But it was a heck of a run by the Destin Girls flag football team. Once again, congratulations on this just outstanding, historic season. Now, how about Choctaw flag football? Did the Indians have better luck? Yeah, they did. They claimed their fifth strength regional championship, courtesy of a 33-20 win over Paxson. Uh KK Hardy hauled in three touchdown passes. Lady Indians held off a talented Paxson squad 33-20 puncher ticket to the Final Four. Uh, and like I said, now it looks like they're probably gonna take on Robinson in a rematch of last year's state championships. Uh, Robinson just cruised past Northeast, 46 to nothing in their regional final. You know, we're seeing so many points and such unbelievable quarterback play. The winner of that game is gonna face the winner of Northwestern Delta Deltona matchup. And uh, you got all these games being played in Tampa. But I do want to go back, you know, we talk about um the uh just a quarterback play. And I I documented and and talked a lot about just how good Stuart has been playing. We we've talked about that for the last several weeks, but how about Diaz Morales? I mean, are you gotta be kidding me? What this young lady is doing for the Indians. She's phenomenal. Let me give you her stat line. She goes 26 of 37, 287 yards, and not one, not two, not three, but four. We call Cuatro touchdowns. Unbelievable. Her quarterback rating was 128, and she distributed uh the football all over the place. I mean, it was just phenomenal. You know, she was just fine in receiver after receiver. Gray Smith had a couple catches, uh, Sylvie Evert had seven receptions for 68 yards. Uh T Shell uh Ballas uh had three receptions, 28 yards, averaging 12 yards, uh a catch and a touchdown. Uh Hardy, as I mentioned, uh five for 86 and three touchdowns. And defensively, they did an excellent job. Uh Trinity Davis, the junior, had eight flag pulls, nine total. So you talk about the offense, then we talk about the defense, and the Indians are going to be such a tough out. All right, we focused a lot over the last several weeks on flag football. We certainly don't want to gloss over softball. And a lot of congrats to go around. Destin got the 5-1 win over Freeport in the quarterfinals of the 2-8 District 1. Uh, they ran into a rested, top-seeded North Haven Bay team, which shut them out 10-0. And North Haven did exactly what you feared they would do. They did exactly what I uh highlighted last weekend on the Destin Scoreboard show. They jump on pitching early and often. And this is exactly what they did against Destin. They scored early and often, scored one run in the second, two in the third. They broke it open with four in the fifth. Destin's season ends with that 12-15 record. But as I mentioned, they did get a playoff win as well. Now, uh, North Bay, they will meet Bozeman in the finals. Bozeman's offense came alive against Walton in a 15-5 win. Uh, and they already had some momentum and confidence entering that district championship against North Haven Bay. The Bucks trail 2-0. They got back two in the bottom half of the first. Then they erupted for six runs in the second. They never looked back, 13-3. You had, you know, they were batting around. Senior Allie Brady went two for two with um um a a pair of RBI. She also went with uh, she scored a couple runs as well. She had a double that broke it open in the uh second sophomore outfielder, Navatar collected a pair of hits in the win. As I mentioned, the Bucks are red hot. They they they got they are just absolutely red hot. They got past Florida State High in the state regionals, and now they will take on bowls May 12th. And that's going to be a heck of a game. It really isn't. You like to see if the the pitching can hold up early in these games. You know, these softball games, it's a phonetical pace. They go fairly fast. So if the pitching holds up, great. Now, offensively, if you are a fan of either one of these squads, you'd like to see a little more patience at the plate, make the hitters work a little bit, and also, you know, tire out some of these pitchers. All right, Fort Walton Beach Edge, St. Augustine 3-1 and for a regional action. The Vikings get to uh clash against Baker May 12th. Vikings go on the road for this one. They're also one of the hottest teams in the region. They have won 11 straight and they are in a groove. I calculated this and uh at the plate offensively, they scored 72 runs over the span. So again, Baker needs a way to slow down this offense, which is averaging a touch over seven runs per contest. Uh, let me give you, if you will, a player or two to highlight. Junior Anna Bahill has been solid at deplete for Ford Walton Beach. She's hitting 460 on the season. Her OBP is 500. And the Vikings back close to 290 on the season as a whole. They get on base. They have a total of 205 hits this season. The national average is 142. Baker just routed Menendez 11-0 to advance. Wildcats, right, the theme, right? They jumped on Mendez pitching early, scoring three in the first, four in the second, three in the third. They put this one away. Should be a good one slater from May 12th. The winner's going to face the winner of Columbia, Arnold. Uh, regional finals are set for the 14th of May. Let's keep it rolling. Speaking of which, top seed at Niceville, blank number eight, Fleming, 3-0, earlier in the week on Wednesday night in the opening round of the Class 5A action. Uh, game was scoreless after two. Niceville got on the board with two and a third. From there, pitching to the rest, allowing just one hit. Brilliant job all around. Quinn Graham led the offense for Niceville with a pair of hits. Uh, they play the winner of Pointe Verde versus Golf Breeze. On the local college front, congrats. I mean, this has got to be this week's Q shout out. Congrats to Northwest Florida State head coach Andy Lee, one of the four inductees selected to the 2026 NJCAA Softball Hall of Fame class, a thousand career wins, seven NJCAA national championships on her resume. That's incredible. I mean, when you when you really put that in perspective, you're talking about arguably one of the great runs that we've ever seen in the history of softball on any college level. So Lee begins her coaching career at Hines College back in 2006. She won 93 games in three seasons. In 2009, she goes to LSU Unis and she pretty much established herself as one of the premier coaches in NJCAA softball. 11 seasons. She compiled 581 wins. She captured six NJCAA Division II national championships. You're talking about a perennial national powerhouse. So now, fast forward, she comes to Northwest Florida State in 2020 and the winning continues. I mean, it's unbelievable. She she's elevated this Raiders team into just prominence. I mean, it's just crazy. You have, you know, back to back to back to back 50 win seasons is unheard of. Plus, they claimed three straight panhandle conference championships. They also reached a program's first national championship in 2023 and made a final four appearance in 2024. So, as I mentioned, you know, just the wins, um uh the players that uh have been all region's uh selections, uh uh 53 have been named NJCAA All-Americans. I mean, the Hall of Fame recognition is absolutely deserved and earned, but long overdue. She will go down, if not already, as one of the greatest coaches in NJCAA softball history. So uh congratulations, Coach Lee. That's just a phenomenal achievement and just kind of speaks to the testament, you know, just the longevity of what you've been able to do uh for all these universities and all these players, uh, just helping them uh on the diamond and obviously uh off the diamond. You know, speaking of which baseball now and keep it with Northwest Florida State, they're headed back to Tampa. The Raiders defeated Central Florida 14-4 in game three to clinch their series. They punched their ticket to the FCSAA Championship Final Four. Uh now, with that win, they will probably go against Chipola. And I believe that game is going to be um later on today at 4 p.m. So if you are uh again just locking us in on the Destin FM scoreboard show, we try to get it out towards the end of the week to kind of lead into everything that's going on in the weekend and certainly what happened um during the week. So if you guys actually listen to us on Saturday or Sunday and you download always on demand, click away. We love it, no problem. But just letting you know, this game is gonna be on Friday, May 8th. Uh college football now, Georgia, Texas. I mentioned this a little bit on the Destin FM 62nd scoreboard. Early favorites to win the conference. If you're thinking about this from a win total, right around nine, nine and a half. So basically, if you believe uh that you know these teams are gonna win more than 10 games, obviously that's where the nine and a half is, so you're gonna lean over that. They have to win at least 10. Alabama holds lower odds in previous years, but still remains a top contender, and that's something to kind of keep an uh eye out for because we know just how um difficult that that conference is. Do we not? I mean, it it really is. You're talking about one of the toughest conferences in all of college football, and it is, and that's why you see it sprouts out so many NFL players. I mean, it just it does not get uh any uh easier than that. And Alabama baseball-wise has done uh really well uh this season. They they've had a really nice season. I also documented and mentioned them during the uh 62nd uh scoreboard as well, the quick little update. Uh so if you're curious about uh Bama baseball, uh I can tell you that they are projected to host a regional in Tuscaloosa, and they've got a couple teams that looks like it's gonna map out that they're gonna play. Speaking of which, in the college ranks, this is kind of big news. So we've known for years March Madness, a field of 64. Obviously, they had the play-in games. Now it was announced the NCAA men's women's basketball tournaments expand to 76 teams. That's what DNCAA announced on Thursday. Uh so again, now you're you're stretching out the field. And I think the reason they're doing this is A, they probably want to eliminate these, the play-in game, right? Because technically it's a play-in game to get to the tournament. I I never really looked at this as hey, you made it to the first round or you made it to March Manus to Big Dance. I believe it's also gonna help uh when we talk about these mid-majors, some of these teams that grab these automatic bids, and then you have what they call these teams on the bubble, on the fence, where 18 and 12 record, who did you beat? What's your RPI, what's your strength of schedule, where you've ranked. Okay, you know what, you're on the bubble. You're gonna be on the outside looking in. Now, if you expand the field, what they're in essence doing is giving an opportunity for some of these teams that we would typically say, you're on the fence, make the tournament. Now, again, is this gonna play out to D2, D3 for some of these other tournaments? I I don't know. I don't know. But again, the fact that they're doing this, I mean, think about it from this standpoint, right? You know, there's pros and cons, right? It's the first time the men's tournament has expanded since 2011. It's the first time the women's tournament has expanded since uh 2022. I think what they're trying to do is, you know, they they they want to help give some of these colleges and these student athletes an opportunity to compete in March Manis, which I still believe is the greatest time of the year. So you got the expansion from 68 to 76. It's the largest increase since they moved to the field of 64 back in 85. And if you recall back in 1985, it was the final four was dominated by the big East. You had St. John's, Georgetown, Villanova, and then the fourth team in that final four was Memphis. And Georgetown and Villanova played in the championship game, and obviously Villanova pulled off one of the greatest upsets we've ever seen. So it went from 64 to 65 in 2001. Then it added three more teams in 2011, and they call that the first four. The first four teams in. You have to win that playoff. So I get why they're doing it. I think there's certainly pros and cons. And on the women's side, you have 12 opening round games. They're going to be played on a Wednesday and Thursday between selection Sunday, the beginning of the round of 64 on Friday, and across 12 of the campus sites designed at first and second round hosts. So a lot going on in college hoops and college basketball. All right, let's squeeze in a little minor league football. And you know, I love to say, you know, it's my favorite team right now when it comes to the minor leagues, the Wahoos. So how about this? You talk about what they did in May. So the Wahoos took three out of four against Biloxi. Then they came back and they dropped three straight against Rocket City. Now they get set for three more against Rocket City. They're trying to snap this three-game slide. Offensively, it's been bad. You know, pitching really hasn't held up. On Tuesday, they lost nine to six. On Wednesday, they got absolutely destroyed 10-1. And then on Thursday, they lost seven to three. So pitching's got to do a better job. They've given up 26 runs over three games, but they've got an opportunity to turn it around. They got three left of this six-game homestand against Rocket City. First pitch is going to be 6.05. Friday, you got 6.05 on Saturday. Then you got 405 on Sunday. They have a day off, obviously, Monday, and then they travel to Chattanooga starting Tuesday. And that's going to be a tough one as well. They got six on the road against Chattanooga. And then late in May in another week plus, they'll come back. They'll have six against Columbus, and then right back on the road against Birmingham, a team that's given them fit over the years. And that'll be six against Birmingham. All right, quickly before we get out of here, let me go national for a moment. Um, NBA will just touch quickly on this. Pistons over the Cavs, 107-97. Right now, Detroit is leading that series 2-0. Uh, the Lakers are just not even putting up a fight against the uh defending champ, Oklahoma City Thunder. Thunder roll last night, 125-107. They have a 2-0 lead in that series. Knicks and the Sixers play game three. Uh, not sure yet if Joel Embiid, Six or Center, is going to be available on Friday night in Philly. OG Adenobi, um, who's played outstanding for the Knicks right now, day-to-day. Uh, Philly now is a slight favorite in that game, but the Sixers still trail that series 2-0. Spurs and Timberwolves, that series is knotted up at 1-1. And then, as I mentioned, uh, you'll get game three of Pistons, Cavs, Thunder, Lakers, respectively, over the weekend. NHL, quickly, for those that follow hockey in the NHL, uh, Hurricanes all over the Flyers. 4-1. They have a commanding 3-0 lead in that series. You got the Canadians and Sabres Friday night. Right now, Buffalo is leading that series 1-0. Golden Knights and the Ducks, that series is tied up at 1-1. Avalanche and the Wild will play on Saturday. Colorado leads that series 2-0. And then the Flyers basically they can get swept if Carolina wins this game on Saturday. Uh, they've got to win to extend the series, and that game's going to be inside the Xfinity Mobile Arena. And I did mention uh with the NFL Aaron Rodgers, and I kind of jokingly said it with you guys during the uh 60-second scoreboard. I mean, I know you've been waiting for this, right? Uh, Aaron Rodgers, uh, it appears that he's gonna meet with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and by all accounts, uh, wants to play, wants to return to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2026. And we're gonna keep a watchful out to see what's going on offseason for New Orleans and Atlanta because technically, you know, we've got the displaced fans in the panhandle. They follow those teams as well. And I mentioned this: the New Orleans Saints, who finish 6-11, you know, there is a little bit of an uptick. You know, people think that the Saints are gonna be much better this season. And if you think about the NFC South, Carolina went 8-8. Tampa had a down year. I'm sorry, Carolina went eight and nine, Tampa had a down year eight and nine, Atlanta was a eight and nine team as well. Carolina got in by virtue of winning a division and going to the playoffs, but New Orleans was 6-11. So if you're looking at the division right now as a whole, you might say, hey, it's up for grabs. It's competitive, right? And that's all that's all you can ask for. All right, we're gonna start wrapping up on this edition of the Destin FM scoreboard show. Uh, you guys are fantastic. We are so happy uh to be part of the Destin FM family. And uh obviously, you know, the station does an unbelievable. Job of just promoting what we're doing sports-wise. And if you uh have not been able to uh tune in to the 62nd updates, we've now expanded it. So it is Monday, uh, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, uh, you tune in to my guy uh Billy Surf Surfs Up in the Morning with the fabulous crew, unbelievable music and all the informative and entertaining segments, and you can hear the Destin FM 62nd scoreboard. Uh also, as I mentioned too, if you've guys out there that are tuning in, uh that um, you know, uh click us on demand, download us, follow us. If you got some store uh sports uh scores or stories or anything sports-wise in the community that you are trying to convey, you know, listen, nothing wrong with posting stuff on social media, right? You go on X, you go on IG, you go on Facebook, you post, you post, you post. But, you know, we what we do, we've got the the vehicle and the platform to reach a huge market. And I have absolutely no problem. If you've got an event, a fundraiser, if you are trying to help a select team, a state team, a travel team, a pop winner team, a youth team, um, or if you just want to share, you know, some sports um um stories with me, if you might sit there and say, hey, you know what, Q, uh maybe you should interview X, Y, and Z. I think this would be a good segment. We're open. We are absolutely open uh because the goal here is deliver to deliver hyperlocal sports content to the community. And uh I can't get to all of it, right? So I don't want to overlook anyone. I don't want to think any high school or players or coaching staff or ADs are being overlooked. That's certainly not the goal here. We want to try to squeeze in as much as we possibly can. And you can always email me. You can follow me on social media on XNIG at rich q on q, on tick tock at rich q on the mic. But if you email me, uh I will get it. I promise you. Very easy to do. All you have to do is just uh email me at richqdestinfm.com and continue to support the station, support the brand, please. Uh the station does a phenomenal job. The app is crystal clear, the content is unbelievable, the music is unbelievable. I mean, it's just fun, it's entertaining, it's lively, we don't take ourselves too seriously, but we are also embedded in the community, and that's the most important thing. So, with that being said, as I typically always ramble off. Don't forget, you can catch me on Monday in the AM multiple times on Surfs Up in the morning with the uh Destin FM 62nd scoreboard. Uh, we love to just have it be a rapid pace, phonetical pace. That's what we do, right? We just we get in there and we just go, go, go, go, go, always on the go, always enjoying ourselves and always trying to give you hyperloc, especially focusing on the high schools in our backyard and of course the athletes that are making a difference on and off the field, in and out of the classroom. With that being said, that's going to do it for this edition of the Destin FM scoreboard. We want everyone to remember, get social with us, very easy to do. Follow us on Facebook, Destin FM, on IG at Destin FM, X at Destin underscore FM, TikTok at Destin FM radio. And as I mentioned, for me, very easy to do at rich on Q on X and IG, Facebook Rich Canonas, and TikTok at RichQ on the mic. Uh and as always, I'm Rich Canonas. Get the latest by downloading the Free Destin FM app in the Apple store, uh, Google Play, Destinfm.com. So again, remember, you get the latest, you download the free destin app in the app store, Google Play or at Destinfm.com. And just keep us tuned in 24 7. We love it. We love you guys. You guys are absolutely fantastic. You have a wonderful uh sports weekend. We will be back in the saddle next weekend as well. And as always, again, uh enjoy the weekend. Be safe, be sound, and we will certainly talk to you next time on the Destin FM Scoreboard show.