It appears that the Boyd-Buchanan Buccaneers have Silverdale's number in baseball this year.
These two teams are head-and-shoulders better than anyone else in District 5-A this spring, so it was no surprise that they met in the winners bracket final of the 5-A tournament on Monday afternoon at Boyd-Buchanan.
And there's a pretty good chance they'll be playing on the same field Thursday for the tournament championship.
The Bucs got a complete game performance from sophomore Brandon Willingham as the hosts won for the third straight time, the last by a 7-3 final.
The Seahawks scored first with two runs in their first at-bat, but the Buccaneers came right back with three in the bottom of the first and they never looked back.
One more run in the third made it 4-2 while a three-spot in the fourth all but locked up Boyd-Buchanan's 24th victory against nine defeats.
"I started off kind of shaky in the first inning, but everything started flowing after that. I usually get good run support and I'm confident that they'll make the plays behind me," the 16-year-old Willingham explained after a short run in the outfield following the game.
"It wasn't one of my best games, but it always feels good when we beat our biggest rival," he added.
The Seahawks scored both of those first-inning runs without the benefit of a hit.
Jordan Delashmitt got hit by a pitch to lead things off before stealing second and third. He scampered home on a wild pitch. Losing pitcher Josiah Green walked with one out and courtesy runner Michael Weiss later scored on a groundout by Chance Brown.
The Bucs didn't waste any time getting those two runs back and more.
Cade Evans singled up the middle with one out and scored on a double by Nathan Murrell. Sophomore Colby Morgan then followed with a towering two-run homer to left as that early 2-0 deficit was a 3-2 lead after the first frame.
Murrell led off the third with an infield single and scored on a double off the fence in left by Morgan.
Then in the fourth, the Bucs blew things open a bit with their final three runs.
Josh Antwine reached on a Silverdale error and scored on a one-out double by Evans. Murrell singled before Morgan was walked intentionally to load the bases. That plan backfired when E.J. Matthews singled to left as Evans scored. A bases-loaded walk to Skyler Anderson allowed Murrell to score before the Seahawks finally retired the side.
Silverdale added one more run in the top of the fourth when Green led off with a walk. Weiss was called upon to run for him again and he scored on a single by Matt Millard after stealing second.
The Seahawks had a runner on base in each of the last three innings, but they were left stranded every time.
Boyd-Buchanan coach Josh Rider was just happy that his kids found a way to battle back after falling behind early.
"We clinched a spot in the region with this win and we're fired up about that. Silverdale caused us some problems early, but it was good to get ahead after giving up those two runs in the first," Rider explained.
"I thought we hit the ball well today and we just need to keep on rolling. Brandon didn't have his best stuff, but he's a bulldog on the mound and he finally started finding the strike zone. He puts us in a good position to win every time he pitches," the coach smiled.
Silverdale coach Jonathan Adcock certainly doesn't want to panic, but he knows that Tuesday's game with Grace is critical for his Seahawks. The Golden Eagles avoided elimination with their 13-10 victory over CSAS.
"I'd just like for my team to play well here one time," he began.
"Boyd-Buchanan hits the ball well and they put pressure on you with their offense. We didn't make the plays when we needed to as it should have been a much closer game. Our backs are to the wall now. We have to win on Tuesday or the season is over," he added, his team now 14-8 for the season.
Evans, Murrell and Morgan were the offensive heroes for the Bucs as they had seven of their team's nine hits with Murrell getting three and the others two apiece. They also scored six of the seven runs.
Matthews had the other two hits for the Bucs. He had a double to lead off the sixth, but was thrown out by catcher Chance Brown when he got caught leaning toward third to end the inning.
Brown, Millard and Weiss all had a single apiece for the Seahawks.
SILVERDALE 200 100 0 -- 3 3 2
BOYD-BUCHANAN 301 300 x -- 7 9 0
Green, Crowther (5) and Brown; Willingham and Payne.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@Comcast.net)