Storm Wreaks Havoc on Playoff Schedule

BERLIN- Several of Stephen Decatur’s fall sports teams’ forays into the state playoffs were put on hold this week by Hurricane Sandy, which caused cancellations of games throughout the Eastern Shore and across the state.

Decatur’s boys’ varsity soccer team entered the state Class 3A-East region tournament as the number-two seed and earned a first-round bye. The Seahawks, who finished with a 10-2 record, will play River Hill at home whenever conditions improve to the point that playoff games can resume. River Hill, seeded seventh, beat 10th-seeded Wilde Lake, 1-0, in overtime last week to advance to the second round.

The second round game, which would have been hosted by Decatur on Tuesday, was postponed and has not been made up. Once conditions improve, state playoff games will be played on back-to-back days if necessary until the tournament is back on schedule, with the exception of Sunday. No make-up date for the Decatur-River Hill game had been set as of mid-week.

A similar situation played out for the Decatur girls’ varsity soccer team. The Seahawks also garnered a number-two seed in the Class 3A-East tourney when the brackets were released last week. When play resumes, the Decatur girls will play seventh-seeded Annapolis, which beat Centennial, 1-0, on penalty kicks last week in the first round to advance. If the Decatur girls prevail, they will play the winner of the other second round game between Atholton and Hammond, although it remains uncertain when play will resume.

Meanwhile, the Decatur varsity volleyball team never even got out of the blocks in the state 3A-East tournament before the storm arrived. The brackets were released on Monday and the Seahawks earned a number-six seed. Decatur will face 11th-seeded Northeast when the tournament gets going. Although volleyball is an indoor fall sport, the storm complicated travel plans for many schools and the tournament will not start until school resumes and travel is deemed safe.

One of the other Decatur fall teams, the varsity field hockey team, did get its Class 3A-East regional tournament started last week. The Seahawks entered the tournament as the number-five seed and fell to fourth-seeded Northeast, 10-1, in the first round to end the season.