Decatur Blanks Mardela, Remains Unbeaten

BERLIN- Stephen Decatur's varsity softball team remained unbeaten last week, blanking host Mardela, 8-0, to improve to 3-0 on the season.

The Seahawks used the tried and true formula of lights out pitching from starter Maddie Justice and timely hitting to beat Mardela in an early season clash of unbeaten teams in the Bayside Conference. The Warriors did their part, committing six errors in the game that opened the floodgates for the Seahawks' offensive attack.

After threatening in the first couple of innings, Decatur broke through in the third when Kylie Nottingham drove in Virginia Harris to take a 1-0 lead. The Seahawks would score two more runs in the third after a series of errors by Mardela. In the fourth, Decatur added two more runs driven in by Justice to extend the lead to 5-0. Decatur completed the 8-0 rout with three more runs in the fifth, most of which came after Mardela mishaps.

After two Seahawks reached on errors to start the fifth, Jessica Iacona hit a fly ball to left that bounced out of the Mardela's fielder's glove allowing two runs to score. Iacona would later come home on a single by Nottingham, her second RBI of the game.

Almost lost amid the track meet on the bases fueled by Mardela's defensive miscues, was another strong performance on the mound by Justice. The Decatur starter shut out the Warriors, allowing just four hits.