The Silverdale Baptist Academy baseball team reached one of its goals for the season last Thursday when they beat arch-rival Boyd-Buchanan for the District 5-A title.
The Seahawks made it four in a row over the Buccaneers on Wednesday afternoon, but the stakes were a little higher as the Region 3-A title was on the line.
That first-place plaque now belongs to those guys from the school on Bonny Oaks Drive after posting a 10-6 win.
Junior southpaw Chase Cook, who was the winning pitcher in last week’s district championship, was the winner again, despite not having his best stuff.
He allowed five runs on five hits while striking out three and walking none, but was replaced by lanky Cade Hannah at the start of the fourth inning. Hannah got another save after surrendering one more run on three hits.
Wednesday’s game was the fifth meeting of the season between these two proud programs. The Bucs won the first game at Silverdale on April 29th, but the Seahawks have now won the last four, including two in a row during the post-season.
“I knew they would be tough as they beat a good South Pittsburg team on the road Monday. They really scare me as they have the ability to score a lot of runs in a hurry, but I’m just glad we don’t have to see them again,” said Silverdale coach Gray Ange after his team had improved to 21-5.
“I’m really proud of the job that Cade Hannah did today. He didn’t start pitching until about two weeks ago. He got a late start because of basketball, but he’s been working while he waits. He’s been a real pleasant surprise as he puts up zeroes and throws strikes. His hard work is paying off.
“It’s always nice to win a big game here at home as we haven’t played a game on the road in several weeks. We’re playing with a lot of confidence right now as we’re focused on the job at hand. We just have to keep playing well on Saturday,” he said in reference to the sectional game against Gordonsville, which is set for a 3 p.m. start.
Boyd-Buchanan coach Taylor Gilley is probably sick of seeing those Seahawks in the other dugout, but the best news is that the season isn’t over. The Bucs will be on the road Friday to play at Goodpasture.
“We had our bats going early, but we couldn’t get any hits late in the game,” Gilley said after his team dropped to 12-9 for the season.
“All of the guys who pitched for us today are freshmen and I liked the way they battled. We just have to travel now and we can’t afford to hang our heads. We’ll just have to go back out on Friday, play hard and see what happens,” Gilley concluded.
The Bucs took the early lead with two runs in the first. After Silverdale knotted the score with two in the bottom of the first, Boyd-Buchanan scored three in the third only to watch as the Seahawks answered with four.
Silverdale then extended the lead to 8-5 in the fourth while adding two more in the sixth after the Bucs had gotten within 8-6.
Cade Evans led off the game for the Bucs with a single and scored on a two-run homer to right by Colby Morgan. Then in the third, Evans reached on an error and scored again following Morgan’s second two-run dinger. Bray Wilson followed the second homer with a double, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Brant Bagley.
Wilson singled to lead off the Boyd-Buchanan sixth and later scored on a Silverdale error, but Hannah had the upper hand as he didn’t allow any further damage.
Blake Howard’s grounder to second allowed Michael Hawkins to score Silverdale’s first run in the first while Alex Gonzalez scored the second on a single by Hayden Spencer after drawing a walk and stealing second.
Peyton Matheney had a run-scoring single in the third before Sawyer Junkins drove in two with another single. The first run of the inning scored on a Buccaneer error.
Collin Lovell walked to lead off the Silverdale fourth and scored on a double by Tyler Mossburg, who led the Seahawks with three hits. Mossburg then stole third and scored when the throw sailed into the leftfield corner.
Then in the sixth, Hawkins ripped a one-out single and scored ahead of a two-run homer by Gonzalez.
Hawkins only had one single in four trips, but he did score two runs. And he was happier than anyone on the field as Wednesday was his 18th birthday.
“That was awesome as I’m just ecstatic right now. We get to host a sub-state game here and that’s the best birthday present I could ask for,” he said afterward.
While Mossburg had three hits for the Seahawks and Junkins two, Morgan, Wilson and Bagley had two hits apiece for the Buccaneers. Jacob Oliver and Cade Evans had the other two.
While Cook was the winner, the freshman Bagley took the loss after allowing six runs on six hits in three innings. He also had one strikeout and he walked one.
BOYD-BUCHANAN 203 001 0 – 6 8 2
SILVERDALE 204 202 x – 10 9 2
Bagley, Edmondson (4), Emery (5) and Price; Cook, Hannah (4) and Spencer.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)