Seahawks Survive Scare, Remain Unbeaten

BERLIN- Stephen Decatur's varsity baseball team remained unbeaten this week after a whirlwind few days that saw the Seahawks pushed to the limit with a come-from-behind win over Parkside before righting the ship to cruise past three other Bayside Conference opponents.

With dominating pitching and clutch hitting from up and down the line-up, the Seahawks had rarely been tested this season on their way to a 10-0 record before visiting Parkside took them the distance last Thursday. Parkside scored got on the board with a run in the top of the first to jump out to a 1-0 lead, but Decatur answered with a run of its own in the bottom of the first to tie the game at 1-1.

The Rams added single runs in the third and fifth innings to lead 3-1 as the innings clicked off and the Seahawks struggled to get anything going offensively. Decatur picked up a run in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to one run at 3-2, setting up the dramatic finish. In the bottom of the seventh, Decatur's Paul Stortini singled with one out to at least give the Seahawks a pulse.

After Parkside recorded the second out of the inning with a ground ball, Decatur's James Rossi launched a double scoring Stortini to tie the game at 3-3. After a walk put runners on first and second for Decatur with two outs, Mike Baglieri looped a single into center, scoring Rossi with the winning run and touching off a wild celebration at home for the Seahawks, who had escaped with a win and kept their perfect record intact.

The dramatic win just the first of four games in four days for the Seahawks, who left nothing to chance after the close call. On Friday, Decatur cruised past Washington, 9-4, at home. On Monday, the Seahawks blasted another Bayside rival, Wicomico, 16-4, as Troy Bennett, Lucas Koenig, Rossi, Baglieri and Lewis all collected two hits apiece. The very next day, Decatur thumped another comer in Bennett, 10-1, as Cory Bradford scattered two hits in six innings on the mound.

The four wins in four days, starting with the last inning heroics against Parkside last Thursday, improved Decatur's record to 14-0 on the season.