Seahawks Now 15-6 With Fourth Straight Win
The Silverdale Seahawks are walking tall these days. They are also playing a high-level of high school baseball and the results in recent games just prove it.
It all began last week when they took two of three games from arch-rival Boyd Buchanan. That was followed by a big win over McCallie before beating a really good Gordon Lee team on Monday. And now the winning streak is four after Tuesday's 8-2 victory over Baylor, a nationally-ranked team.
Most baseball fans were expecting a really close game on Tuesday and it was for a minute as Silverdale had a 2-1 lead after the first inning. But that didn't last long as the Seahawks batted around in the third and used three hits and three walks to spark a five-run inning, highlighted by a grand slam to dead center by Graham King, who was previously a Baylor student before transferring during the middle of last year's baseball season.
Silverdale coach Lance Rorex knows that the only way to get better is to play teams better than your own and that has certainly been the case in the last eight days.
"Nothing ever feels safe when you're playing a team like Baylor. I thought our defense was outstanding for the most part and got a key double play when we needed it. And what can you say about Maddox Hasty. We shouldn't be surprised at the way he pitched because he's the leader of our staff and had another great performance today," Rorex said following the game.
"That was a big moment for Graham King, who is a Baylor transfer. He hit it hard and there was no doubt it was going out, but we just need to drive guys in when they're on base. We shouldn't be surprised at what we've done in recent games as we have a pretty good team too. We just need to keep working so we can keep improving," the veteran coach added.
Baylor coach Greg Elie didn't dodge any bullets during his post-game comments.
"That just wasn't very good. We really didn't show up and basically just went through the motions," he began after his team dropped to 12-4 for the season.
"That's a great team over there who is well coached. They play the game the way it's supposed to be played, but we didn't play the game the right way today. We looked like we had never been on a baseball field before and that's really frustrating for me as a coach. It wasn't a very good display of baseball, but hopefully we can turn things around," he nodded.
Mac Morris was about all the offense Baylor had as he collected four of his team's five hits and scored the first run in the first on a wild pitch.
Hasty was the winner after allowing two runs on four hits in 6.1 innings. He also had five walks and six strikeouts and was replaced by Cannon Rogers after getting the first out in the seventh.
Rogers is the Silverdale closer and he's usually very reliable. He struggled a little bit as he allowed a hit to Morris and walks to Luke Wilkerson and Brooks Berry to load the bases, but he got the final two outs on strikes, including the last one on a called third strike to end the game.
Brayden Melton and Jake Murray were the only Silverdale players with two hits. Melton reached first to lead off the first and later scored the first run when he stole home while a double into the corner in left by Brett Oxford drove in Hasty with the second. Hasty had walked and stolen second before scoring.
Drake Dills had a one-out single in the third and scored on Murray's first of two doubles. Oxford and Tanner Bayne both walked to load the bases, setting the stage for King, who had struck out in his first time up the previous inning.
He ripped a 1-1 pitch dead to center for a grand slam and a 7-1 lead. Baylor starter Henry Allen followed that with a walk before being replaced by Levi Fraley.
The Seahawks scored their final run in the sixth when Melton doubled with one out and scored on Murray's second double of the game.
While Hasty was the winning pitcher for Silverdale, Allen took the loss for Baylor after allowing seven runs on five hits in 2.2 innings.
Silverdale will be at home again on Thursday to host Hixson while Baylor will hit the road on Wednesday to face Webb Bell Buckle.
BAYLOR 100 010 0 – 2 5 1
SILVERDALE 205 001 x – 8 7 1
Allen, Fraley (3) and Lundy; Hasty, Rogers (7) and Bayne.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)
Hasty, King Lead Silverdale Past Baylor, 8-2 - Chattanoogan.com
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