BERLIN- Although the season is very young, it appears there is something special going on with the Stephen Decatur varsity softball team this year as the Seahawks have jumped out to a 4-0 mark and have yet to give up a single run.
The Seahawks beat visiting Snow Hill, 12-0, on Monday in a game reduced to just five innings because of the slaughter rule. Miranda Conaway drove in a run in the second inning for an early 1-0 lead, which was all the Seahawks would need for the fourth time in four starts. In the third inning, Kylie Nottingham started a rally with a solo home run to extend the lead to 2-0.
Kylie’s sister Shae Nottingham drove in a run to make it 3-0, and Kaitlyn Colgan smacked another line-drive single to make it 4-0. When Erika Anders hit a hard grounder to third, it appeared Snow Hill would stop the scoring binge right there, but the Eagles bobbled the ball and compounded the problem with an errant throw to the plate, allowing two more runs to score. When the dust settled, Decatur led 6-0.
The Seahawks tacked on six more runs in the fourth inning to make it 12-0, and when Snow Hill went quietly in the top of the fifth inning, the game was called by the slaughter rule. It was the fourth shutout in four games for Decatur and the third of the first four to be called early by the slaughter rule.
The Seahawks beat Crisfield, 33-0, in the season opener last Tuesday, and followed that up with a 10-0 win over Washington and an 11-0 win over Cambridge-South Dorchester. Thus far, through four games, the Seahawks have outscored their opponents 66-0.