Weather wreaked havoc on the early rounds of the 40th annual Delaware High School Baseball Tournament. But once play began, several upsets took place.
Saturday’s semifinals were no different, as No. 1-seeded Middletown and No. 2-seeded Salesianum were each knocked out of the tournament and denied a return to the title game.
Instead it will be St. Mark’s vs. Sussex Central in Tuesday’s championship game, which begins at 7 p.m. at Frawley Stadium in Wilmington.
St. Mark’s upsets Middletown
In the afternoon semifinals game, held at Wilson Field on the Wilmington University campus, Middletown fell to No. 5 seed St. Mark’s, 5-3.
For a senior-laden Middletown team which made it all the way to the finals in 2008, the loss was just the second of the season.
For a young St. Mark’s team, which started just two seniors, returning to the state title game is familiar territory. The Spartans have been there 15 times in the last 25 years.
St. Mark’s wasted no time jumping out to an early 4-0 lead in the top of the second off Middletown ace Ryan Haas (7-2). Tom Valichka walked and then scored on Brandon Baker’s triple. Singles by Mike Medori and Tyler Hrcycak were followed by Peter Brohl’s sacrifice fly and Harrison Strum’s RBI single to give St. Mark’s the runs it would need for the win.
Middletown, down 5-0, rallied in the fourth inning when Zach Durham walked and scored on Haas’ double. Chad Kuhl then knocked Haas in with an RBI single. The rally was stopped, however, on a double-play followed by a diving catch by St. Mark’s third baseman James Wilson.
The Cavaliers would score once more run in the sixth, but another diving catch by Wilson ended any chance of a Middletown comeback.
Nick Perry (5-0) picked up the win for St. Mark’s, with Chris Murphy pitching the sixth and seventh to earn the save. Haas took the loss for Middletown (20-2).
St. Mark’s (17-6) is trying to win its ninth state title.
Sussex Central dominates Salesianum
Sussex Central has not been in the championship game of the Delaware High School Baseball Tournament since 1989. But when it was there, the Golden Knights capped a perfect season with a win.
And now, 20 years later, Sussex Central has a chance to win it all again as the No. 3 seed powered past No. 2-seeded Salesianum, 9-1, in Saturday evening’s semifinals, played on Eddie Coker Field at the Dover Little League complex.
Sussex Central (20-2) batted around in the second inning, scoring six runs to give junior pitcher Trevor Wilkins all the runs he would need. The Golden Knights’ aced scattered just five hits to earn the win.
“The keys to our win were first, getting an early lead,” Sussex Central coach Todd Brock said. “Sallies is a great team and we remembered the butt-kicking we took from them on our field earlier this year, so I thought the kids needed to get a lead early to believe that we could beat them.
“The other key was that Trevor pitched a gem. He had no walks and pitched ahead of the count all night long. Last game we gave them 12 free passes and you can't win doing that.”
The Golden Knights’ big second inning was highlighted by five hits, the biggest being a two-run double off the bat of Peter Ott.
Sussex Central finished the game with 12 hits, including three by senior catcher Matt Eskridge and two each by Chris Conaway and D.J. Hickman.
“After the game I told them that our goal from the first day of practice was to win a state title, and in order to do that we still have to beat a hungry St. Marks team,” Brock added when asked what he told his team to get them back focused on the task that lies ahead of them in the championship game against St. Mark’s on Tuesday night. “I told them that [St. Mark’s] will be ready to knock us off since we beat them in the regular season.
“I told them to remember the fire that we had in our stomachs going into tonight’s semifinals game after Sallies came to our place and 10 run-ruled us during the regular season. That is the fire St. Marks will have Tuesday night. We have to match it.”
Girls Lacrosse: Delaware Independent School Conference first-team All-Stars announced
St. Andrew’s School:
Corrine Armistead, Sr., Defense
Madison Beres, So., Defense
Cinda Caldwell, Jr., Midfield
Beth Martin, Sr., Midfield
MacKenzie Peet, So., Defense
Sanford:
Diana Aulisa, Sr., Midfield
Sukey Hendrix, Jr., Midfield
Katie Zubrow, Jr., GK
Tatnall:
Steph Burrus, Sr., Midfield
Olivia Walker, Sr., Midfield
Tower Hill:
Katie Applegate, Jr., Midfield
Mary Hobbs, Sr., Midfield
Caroline Holliday, Jr., Midfield
Meghan Lyons, Sr., Attack
Emily Schukert, Jr., Defense
Wilmington Friends:
Anna Crosby, Sr., Midfield
Perrin Downing, Sr., Midfield
News and Notes
Caesar Rodney High School senior Joey Babuca signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Delaware State University. … Caravel baseball coach Paul Niggebrugge ended the season with 299 wins.
