Silverdale's Spencer Mossburg.
photo by Greg Davick
It's been a season of firsts for the Silverdale Baptist Academy baseball team.
Last week, the Seahawks claimed their first district tournament title with an unforgettable 29-0 victory over Arts & Sciences.
They claimed their first Region 3-A title on Wednesday evening with another lopsided win, this time in the form of a 10-0 victory over the Marion County Warriors.
Silverdale will be at home one more time on Friday when they host the Friendship Christian-Trousdale County loser in the sectional round with Friday's winner advancing to next week's BlueCross Spring Fling state championships in Murfreesboro.
The Seahawks are now 25-2-1 and have put together a phenomenal season with great pitching, sturdy defense and a lot of timely hitting. That was the case again on Wednesday as Silverdale finished with 10 runs on 10 hits and no errors.
Starting pitcher Spencer Mossburg once again did his thing in a most impressive fashion as he finished with a four-hit shutout where he had six strikeouts to go along with two walks and two hit batters.
"We just try to come out and play our game, but I was still sweating when our lead was just 5-0," said Silverdale coach Jonathan Adcock.
"Marion hits the ball well, but thankfully, we were able to score some early runs. I thank God for these young men every day as we want to keep playing. One more win on Friday and we'll advance to the state tournament for the first time," Adcock added with a smile as his team was gathering for a championship photo opportunity.
Mossburg allowed two of his four hits in the first inning. Clay O'Shields ripped a shot off the fence in center, but was thrown out at second by Reid Clements as he tried to stretch the single into a double. Bryce Massengale followed with a double to right-center, but he was stranded when Mossburg struck out Jacob Vinson on three straight strikes.
The Seahawks didn't waste any time taking the lead as Mossburg led off with a single and advanced to third when pitcher Logan Walters made a bad throw to second following a sacrifice bunt by Josh Bankston. Courtesy runner Cody Thomas promptly stole second and both scored on a two-run single by Joey Szollosi.
A four-run second gave the Seahawks a little more breathing room before adding single runs in the third and fifth innings. Then with two outs and runners on first and second in the sixth, sophomore third baseman Josiah Green ripped his second double of the game to end the game.
Jordan Delashmitt had led off with a single before Bankston earned a one-out walk. Delashmitt and courtesy runner Thomas both scored when Green stroked a liner to left that O'Shields couldn't come up with.
"I was trying to hit it to right, but he threw me a fastball and I got around on it. I thought it was going to be caught, but the ball bounced right in front of the outfielder. It was a big hit for me, but I was just glad I could come out and hit it hard," Green explained.
Mossburg, one of three players with two hits, was just glad to get another win as he quickly praised his defense for saving the day for him.
"Our defense was great today, but it has been all year. It's hard to not have confidence with guys like that behind you, but I could have pitched a lot better. I struggled some, but again, my defense saved the day," Mossburg said after improving to 8-0.
Mossburg had two singles and one RBI while Green had the two doubles and three runs batted in. Colton Rogers had a single in the second before driving in Matt Millard with an RBI-double in the third.
Millard had a two-out single in the fifth and scored on a single by Chance Brown while Delashmitt had the other hit in the sixth.
Massengale had two hits for the Warriors while O'Shields had the first inning single. Austin Layne led off with a single in the second, but that was the last hit that Mossburg allowed.
Marion County coach J.J.
Gatlin wasn't the happiest of people when the game ended.
"We knew that Silverdale swings the bat well and credit goes to them for a big win," Gatlin said as he was heading toward the parking lot.
"We came out flat and didn't make the plays early. We also had some base-running blunders, but we just weren't able to dig ourselves out of that early hole," he added.
The Warriors are now 20-13 and will be on the road Friday to face the Friendship Christian-Trousdale County winner.
Marion Co. 000 000 -- 0 4 4
Silverdale 241 012 -- 10 10 0
Walters, Pedigo (3) and Grooms; Mossburg and Bankston.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net)