BERLIN- Stephen Decatur’s varsity baseball team’s remarkable season came to a close on Tuesday with a 4-2 loss to Chesapeake-Anne Arundel in the state 3A-East Section II final.
The Seahawks were solid all season, compiling a 16-2 record and narrowly missing the Bayside South title. At different times during the season, the Seahawks had winning streaks of eight and seven games. Decatur was seeded second when the 3A-East Region Section II brackets were released and drew a familiar foe in Bennett in its opener.
Last Friday, the Seahawks routed Bennett, 11-1, to advance to Tuesday’s Section II championship game. Bennett scored an unearned run in the first inning and held a 1-0 lead through most of the game before the Seahawks broke it open late.
Decatur’s Tristan McDonough delivers a pitch during the third inning of Tuesday’s state regional playoff game against Chesapeake.
Photo by Shawn Soper
Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth, Decatur’s Mitchell Orf cracked a two-run triple to put the Seahawks ahead, 2-1. Decatur would add another run in the fifth to extend its lead to 3-1. The Seahawks really broke it open in the bottom of the sixth with six more runs highlighted by a grand slam by Orf, who finished with six RBIs on the day.
The win sent Decatur into the Section II championship game at home on Monday against Chesapeake-Anne Arundel. The Cougars were the two-time reigning regional champions and provided a formidable foe for the Seahawks.
Decatur got on the board first to take an early 1-0 lead. Chesapeake scored four runs in the third inning to take control, 4-1. In the bottom of the third, the Seahawks got one back. After a pair of two-out walks, Billy Wheatley smoked a double into the left field corner to score a run and cut the lead to 4-2.
The next Decatur batter was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs, but the Chesapeake pitcher coaxed a ground ball force out at second to end the threat. That was as close as Decatur would get as the Cougars shut the Seahawks down the rest of the way and closed out the 4-2 in front of a big, boisterous crowd to advance to the region title game and end Decatur’s season.
