Seahawks Edge Rams to Stay Perfect

BERLIN- Stephen Decatur’s varsity baseball team maintained its perfect record on Tuesday, beating rival Parkside, 6-5, in a nail biter after opening a big lead early.

The Seahawks entered Tuesday’s game with a perfect 6-0 record, but faced one of its toughest early season tests with the Rams traveling to Berlin. Decatur jumped out to a quick lead in the first, scoring three times as the first five batters of the game reached base. Teron Tyre led off the game with a comebacker to the mound and advanced to second on a wild throw to first. After Chase Corsey was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second, Mike O’Neill hit a shot to left center that bounced over the fence for a ground rule double, scoring Tyre. Steve Ruggiere then doubled home Corsey and O’Neill to stake the Seahawks to an early 3-0 lead.

Parkside got one back in the top of the second to cut the lead to 3-1, but Decatur answered in the bottom of the inning. Tyre walked and O’Neill reached on a catcher’s interference call to put runners on first and second. Connor Molloy then hit a double down the left field line to score Tyre and O’Neill to extend the lead to 5-1.

Meanwhile, Ruggiere continued his high wire act on the mound in the top of the third, a trend that would continue for much of the game. With one run already home in the third to cut the lead to 5-2, Parkside had runners on the corners with one out. After a pitch got past the Decatur catcher, the Parkside runner on third made a dash for the plate, but Ruggiere beat him there and applied the tag to get the out. The next Parkside batter grounded out to second to end the threat.

In the top of the fourth, Parkside got a leadoff double and put runners on first and third with one out, but again Ruggiere wiggled out of the jam when the Rams’ runner was picked off at third for the second out. After Decatur made it 6-2, Parkside continued chip away at the lead with two more runs in the top of the fifth to cut the lead to 6-4. The Rams had a great opportunity to steal the game in the top of the seventh, but couldn’t break through.

Parkside got a leadoff double in the seventh and the runner scored on a wild throw to first to cut the lead to 6-5. However, with two outs and a runner on second, the next Parkside batter grounded out to the Decatur pitcher to end the game. With the tense 6-5 win, the Seahawks improved to 7-0 on the season with the heart of their schedule upcoming including a date with also unbeaten Bennett.