River Crowther allowed two runs on eight hits in five innings Monday afternoon, but all he has to show for an outstanding effort is a loss after his Silverdale Baptist Academy teammates came up short in a 2-1 winner's bracket final against host Boyd-Buchanan in the District 5-A baseball tournament.
Crowther probably deserved a better fate, but he was one-upped by Buccaneer junior Brandon Willingham, who gave up one run on five hits to win for the seventh time in eight decisions.
With the win, the Bucs improve to 23-9 and await the winner of Tuesday's loser's bracket final between Silverdale and Grace in a game scheduled for 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
The Golden Eagles extended their season with a 7-3 win over CSAS on Monday. Should Boyd-Buchanan lose on Wednesday, a second game would be played on Thursday at 5.
"That was a well-played game," said Boyd-Buchanan coach Josh Rider after the final out had been recorded.
"Both teams made some incredible defensive plays, but I thought that Silverdale played well as they've improved a ton since the first time we played them. I guess the most important thing is that we kept our composure in a really close game.
"Brandon was strong, but we're a very confident team with him on the mound," the coach added.
Crowther got two quick outs in the first inning before Colby Morgan ripped a 1-1 pitch to dead center fore a solo homer and a 1-0 Boyd-Buchanan lead.
Morgan drove in the second run as well in the third when his single to left drove in Josh Antwine, who had singled, stole second and advanced to third on a Seahawk error.
As it turned out, that's all the offense Willingham needed.
"I didn't locate my fast ball as well as I would have liked, but my off-speed stuff was as good as it gets," said Willingham following the game.
"I never lost my confidence, even in a close game with a one-run lead. Those guys behind me put on an absolute clinic on defense," he added.
Willingham finished with the complete-game victory as he struck out nine and walked one while allowing five Silverdale hits. The only inning where the Seahawks got more than one hit was the fifth and that's when they scored their only run on a groundout by Noah Rogers that plated Hayden Spencer, who had led off with a single.
Tyler Mossburg kept the inning alive with a single to right, but he was thrown out by catcher Antwine trying to swipe second to end the inning.
The junior pitcher also benefitted from a double play in the fourth. Blake Howard walked with one out before Michael Hawkins singled. Hawkins was gunned down at second trying to advance after the throw came home while Howard was out at home as he tried to score on the play at second.
Josiah Green singled in the sixth for Silverdale and stole second, but again Antwine was up to the challenge as he gunned down Green at second after he was caught off base following a strikeout.
"We had our chances and we even had runners on first and third in the fourth, but didn't score and missed that opportunity," said Silverdale coach Jonathan Adcock after his team dropped to 10-12.
"It was a close game and I thought that River pitched a terrific game, but we just couldn't get the big hit and ended up running out of time," he added.
E.J. Matthews had three hits for the second game in a row while Morgan and Austin Jackson both had two. Cade Evans and Antwine both had the other hits for the Bucs.
Blake Howard, Michael Hawkins, Green, Spencer and Mossburg all had one hit apiece for Silverdale.
SILVERDALE 000 010 0 -- 1 5 2
BOYD-BUCHANAN 101 000 x -- 2 9 1
Crowther, Cook (6) and Spencer; Willingham and Antwine.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@Comcast.net)