In prep baseball playoffs, for the first time the state's going with best of three series to determine its region champs.

That means Friday Niceville will host two games against visiting Niceville in their 5-A region finals. Playing a best of three certainly changes things in terms of strategy for the coaches involved.

Kevin Berry, Niceville head coach, said, "It benefits our team well because we've got about 4 arms we can roll out there. Like I was telling, you we have to look at the team. Do they have slow bats or do they have great bats? What pitches they can hit and what pitches they can't. If they can hit a good fastball then we have to go a different route and find somebody that can move around and change speeds, and throw a little off speed for strikes. We've got to keep them off balance. They've got a few good ball players that can really hurt you if you let them.”

The first game is set for 4 p.m., the second game about 30 minutes after the first game ends. If necessary, game three would be Saturday at 1. Paxton is also playing in the region finals, travelling to Jacksonville to face Eagle's View in their 1-A region final series.