BERLIN- Stephen Decatur’s varsity baseball team entered Tuesday’s home game against old rival Bennett with a one-game lead in the Bayside South and routed the Clippers, 11-1, to clinch the title and move on to the conference championship game.
The Seahawks were kind of up and down early in the season, but appear to have really hit their stride down the stretch. They entered Tuesday’ showdown with Bennett with a chance to clinch the Bayside South title and did so in impressive fashion with an 11-1 lead.
Jake Shockley surrendered a first inning run to Bennett, but settled down and was dominant much of the way. Decatur broke out in the bottom of the second with a two-run home run by Shane Cioccio to make it 2-1. Brett Berquist lashed a base hit and after a successful sacrifice bunt by Bryce Messick, Wyatt Church reached on an infield hit to put runners on the corners with one out. A sacrifice fly by Ryan Duncan put Decatur up 3-2 after two innings.
After Bennett went three up, three down in the top of the third, Decatur’s Tristan McDonough led off the bottom of the inning with a four-pitch walk. Shockley then doubled off the left field fence to score McDonough and improve the lead to 4-1. Stephen Bontempo reached on an error putting Seahawks on the corners with still no outs.
Cioccio then walked to load the bases with no outs. Berquist got a base hit through the left side to score a run and increase the lead to 5-1 and there was still bases loaded with no outs. Church then reached on an error to extend the lead to 6-1. That was all Shockley would need as the Decatur pitcher was dominant at times and the bats kept adding runs on the way to an 11-1 win and the Bayside South title.
The Seahawks record now stands at 10-6 on the season, but it was dominant run down the stretch that propelled them to the Bayside South title. Decatur has won five of its last six, four of which have come by shutout. Last Thursday, McDonough and Shockley combined on a no-hitter to blank Parkside, 1-0, and the Seahawks shut out Crisfield in a make-up game on Friday before Tuesday’s 11-1 win over Bennett.
Decatur has a little unfinished business with a make-up game against Washington on Monday before the Bayside Conference championship game next Tuesday against an opponent to be determined.
