Seahawk Nines Wrap Regular Season, Prep For States

BERLIN- Stephen Decatur's varsity baseball and softball teams wrapped up their regular seasons this week with a pair of wins over county rival Snow Hill and are now preparing for runs at a potential state championship.

The Seahawks baseball team beat Snow Hill in dramatic fashion on Tuesday after spotting the Eagles an early 4-0 lead in the first inning. Decatur scratched and clawed their way back to an 8-5 win behind Max Marks, Kyle Pruitt and Marshall Betts. Lucan Koenig struggled early on the mound, but gutted it out the rest of the way to get the win, with Dominick Favazza picking up the save.

The Seahawks baseball team garnered a number-three seed in the 2A-East and earned a first-round bye. Decatur will play familiar rival Wicomico, the six-seed, in the tournament, in the second round. The Seahawks swept the Indians in two meetings this season in a pair of one-run games with a 7-6 win on March 29 and a 2-1 win on April 20.

Lurking beyond Wicomico in Decatur's bracket is old rival Parkside, which earned a number-two seed in the 2A-East. Again, Decatur had a good record against Parkside this year, sweeping the Rams 6-0 and then 3-2 in two meetings.

Over on the softball field at Snow Hill on Tuesday, the Decatur softball team beat the Eagles, 6-5, to close out the regular season on a high note. Decatur led 6-4 in the last inning when Snow Hill loaded the bases with two outs.

The next Snow Hill batter laced a line-drive single to left, which could have tied the game, but after the runner on third scored to make it 6-5, the Snow Hill runner from second made a wide turn at third base and was tagged out by Decatur shortstop Kelly Higgins as she tried to get back to the base. Higgins made a hard tag on the Eagle runner, forcing the ball out of her glove, but she quickly picked it up and tagged the runner before she got back to the bag.

Ali Justice got the win for Decatur, going the distance and striking out two. Kate Zimmer and Kylie Nottingham led the Decatur offense with two hits apiece.

The Seahawks' varsity softball team finished the regular season with an impressive 15-3 record and earned a number-four seed in its 2A-East Region bracket and will also have a first-round bye. The Seahawks will face Southern, of Anne Arundel County, in the second round. Easton is the top seed in the bracket. Other notable teams from the Bayside Conference in the bracket include Parkside and North Caroline.