Decatur entered the state 3A-East region tournament and earned a number-two seed and a first-round bye. Against Reservoir on Monday, the Seahawks could get little going offensively and fell, 3-0, despite fine pitching and defense. With the loss in the region quarterfinals, the Seahawks finished the 2013 campaign with a 14-5 record.

The Seahawks started the season on a major roll, winning their first 10 games to start out 10-0. They suffered their first loss to Mardela, 3-2, back on April 18, and fell to Wicomico, 6-4, on May 2. Decatur then lost its last two regular season games to Bennett and Indian River, but still earned a number-two seed in the 3A-East tournament.

Worcester played concurrently in two private prep school leagues this year including the old ESIAC and the MILL, which is joined for the first time this season. Throughout the season, the Mallards faced teams in both conferences, or in some cases, teams that also competed in both. As a result, the Mallards were on parallel tracks for both conference championships and each came to a head on successive days last week.

On Tuesday, the Mallards defeated Salisbury School, 13-3, to claim the ESIAC championship. The win was the third for Worcester over the Mallards this season. On Wednesday, Worcester fell to Calverton, 18-6, in the MILL semifinals. Calverton, located in Southern Maryland, ultimately went on the win the MILL championship.

On Monday, the Seahawks lived another day by edging Mount Hebron, 1-0, in a well-pitched nine-inning game when they scored in their final at-bat. Grant Donohue went the distance, striking out 10 and allowing just one hit. The Decatur bats were equally quiet throughout the game, but Justin Meekins and Chase Church provided just enough offense with a pair of hits each including the game-winner by Chase in the ninth.

On Wednesday, the third-seeded Seahawks were at it again against 10th seeded River Hill. Decatur jumped out to an early 4-1 lead, but the Hawks clawed their way back to tie it at 4-4.

In the bottom of the sixth, Decatur strung three singles together by Donohue, Andrew Borradaile and Chase, who again drove home the winning run to lead the Seahawks to the dramatic 5-4 win. With the win, Decatur advances to the region championship at home this afternoon against fourth-seeded Reservoir, which upset top-seed and Seahawk nemesis, 6-5, on Wednesday.

The Decatur boys finished second among the 16 Bayside schools represented in the conference championship meet last Thursday with 95 total team points. North Caroline was first with 98 points, while Kent Island was third with 74.5 points. The Seahawks placed high in nearly every event including a first-place finish for Patrick Phillips in the shot put. Anthony Sullivan finished sixth in the shot put.

In the 110-meter hurdles, Lucas Duker was third, while James Phillips finished sixth. Kyle Kelly was fifth in the 200 and Patrick Gray came in sixth. Kelly also finished third in the 400, while Sonny Aroh was eighth and Dan Winters was ninth. In the 800, Winters came in seventh and Lance Ward was 10th. In the 1,600, Nick Molitor was seventh and Kevin Herbert was eighth. Herbert also finished eighth in the 3,200.

Ruben Ortega finished ninth in the 300 hurdles. The Seahawks did well in the relays, coming in second in the 4x400, third in the 4x800 and sixth in both the 4x100 and the 4x200. The Seahawks also placed highly in almost every field event including Patrick Phillips’ first-place finish in the shot put. Duker was third in the high jump, while Zach Watters came in second in the pole vault and Aroh was third.

Khaalid Collick finished sixth in the long jump and fourth in the triple jump, while Jamel Showell came in seventh in the triple jump and eighth in the long jump. Patrick Phillips also came in fifth in the discus.

The Decatur girls also finished second among the 14 school represented in the Bayside Conference meet with 99.5 total points. Kent Island was first with 136 points, while Cambridge-South Dorchester was third with 68.5 Alexandra Saunders finished first in the high jump, while Hannah Wilson finished third. Ameerah Lewis was first in the shot put, while Antonia Green came in fifth. Lewis was also seventh in the discus.

In the 100 hurdles, Emily Cook came in third while Emily Kolarik came in eighth. Rebecca Lederman finished third in the 100, while Amari Harmon was fourth. Lederman and Harmon duplicated the feat in the 200, finishing third and fourth respectively, while Lederman also came in third in the 400.

Chloe FauntLeroy was eighth in the 800 and sixth in the 1,600. Alexandra Tushup finished eighth in the 3,200. In the relays, Decatur finished fourth in both the 4x400 and 4x800, and came in fifth in the 4x100 and eighth in the 4x200. Katie Collins finished second in the pole vault, while Hannah Wilson was fourth. Wilson also finished 10th in the triple jump.

Last Wednesday, Worcester routed Salisbury School, 27-0, in the conference semifinals to advance to the championship game. For the Mallards, Wednesday’s win over Salisbury School marked their third of the season against the Dragons by a combined 71-4.

On Friday, Worcester hosted old rival Saints Peter and Paul for the conference championship and routed the Sabres, 20-5. The Mallards also beat the Sabres handily twice during the regular season. With the wins in the ESIAC tournament, the Mallards finished the season with an impressive 13-2 record. After dropping its first game of the year to Garrison Forest, the Mallards ran off 10 straight wins before a loss to Cape Henlopen back on April 20.

The Seahawks have battled Kent Island in several significant games over the last couple of years, but the Buccaneers earned the upper hand at least for another year this week with a 13-8 win over Decatur at home in the region semifinals. The Seahawks entered the 3A-East region tourney as the number-two seed and earned a first round bye.

Decatur cruised past third-seeded Easton, 19-5, last Friday to advance to the region semifinals and a date with top-seeded Kent Island. Against Easton, Andrew Ternahan led the Seahawks with six goals and four assists, while Corey Gwin scored four goals and dished out three assists. The Seahawks led 13-3 at the half and never looked back on their way to the 19-5 win.

The win set up another rematch with Kent Island on the road on Monday. Last year, Decatur beat Kent Island, 10-9, in the Bayside Conference championship game, but the Buccaneers beat the Seahawks, 10-7, in the regular season matchup back on March 26. The two teams were scheduled to face each other again last week in the Bayside Conference championship, but bad weather forced the cancellation of the game and the Seahawks and Buccaneers were declared co-champions of the Bayside Conference for 2013.

However, when the state playoff brackets were released last week, it became apparent the two budding rivals were on a collision course for yet another rematch. After Decatur dispensed with Easton last Friday and Kent Island cruised past Queen Anne’s, the two teams met again on Monday and Kent Island won the game, 13-8, to advance to the 3A-East title game against Patuxent.

Decatur, which won the Bayside South title after a 10-2 regular season, was scheduled to play Bayside North champion Queen Anne’s last week in the conference championship game, but bad weather forced a cancellation and with no make-up date available, the two teams were named co-conference champions. However, when the state regional playoff brackets were released last week, it became apparent there would likely be an opportunity to settle the conference bragging rights on the field along with the right to move on in the state regional tournament.

The Seahawks were seeded second in the 3A-East region and earned a first-round bye. Decatur then beat Bennett, 20-4, last Friday to advance to the 3A-East region semifinals. Meanwhile, Queen Anne’s rolled past Northeast, 22-7, in their second round game to set up a rematch with Decatur in the region semifinals. The Seahawks traveled to Queen Anne’s on Monday and fell to the Lions, 15-11. With the split of two state playoff games, the Seahawks finished the season with an impressive 11-3 mark, with two of the losses coming at the hands of the Lions.