Tyler August stepped onto the pitcher’s mound at Frawley Stadium Thursday night and promptly struck out the side in the DIAA Baseball Tournament semifinal.
His single then ignited a 6-run first inning for Delaware Military Academy in its showdown with defending champion Cape Henlopen.
This being baseball, that didn’t quite seal Cape’s fate but it certainly put the Vikings in a precarious position from which they could not recover in an eventual 10-4 DMA triumph.
It was the second game of a doubleheader that began with Conrad’s 10-7 win over Saint Mark’s. That makes Saturday’s 8 p.m. DMA-Conrad title game at Frawley Stadium a matchup between Diamond State Conference rivals and southwest Wilmington schools situated a mile apart.
“Their pitcher threw a lot of strikes so we capitalized, we swung the bats well,” said August, the state Player of the Year and Delaware signee. “Our offense is one of the best in the state so it’s obviously good as a pitcher to get that run support.”
Sammy Diaz’ first-inning RBI single, Sean Bogan’s two-run single in a 3-run second inning and August’s RBI double in the third highlighted a 10-hit DMA attack that was aided by six Cape errors.
August could pitch again after working just three innings and throwing 47 pitches while allowing three hits and striking out seven. DMA also has fellow ace Drew Simpson ready to go. Both, as sophomores, helped key DMA’s 2021 title.
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“We know a lot about them and they know a lot about us,” August said of Conrad. “Just looking forward to a great game, They have a lot of great players so it’s gonna be exciting.”
Conrad collected 14 hits while making the state baseball final for the fourth time. The Red Wolves are seeking their first title after dropping the 1971, 1972 and 2017 titles games. Conrad was not a high school, however, from the 1978-79 school year until 2007.
Elijah Myers was 4-for-4 a double and three RBI for Conrad.
“I changed up my approach at the plate and it just feels great,” said Myers, who had the winning hit in Tuesday’s quarterfinal win over Sussex Tech. “It’s working out for this game, walk-off last game and it feels so great to make the state ‘ship’ my senior year.”
Solomon Abdullah had three hits, including a double, and scored three runs. Right-fielder Patrick Blanch’s clutch diving catch to end the first-inning thwarted a base-loaded Saint Mark’s threat.
DMA beat Conrad 5-3 on April 20.
“We’ve worked all year for this,” Abdullah said. “We’re ready.”
Soccer kicks it off
A busy DIAA championship weekend kicks off Friday night at Delaware State University’s Alumni Stadium with a girls soccer doubleheader.
Top-seeded and defending champion Saint Mark’s (15-2) takes on No. 4 Archmere (14-3) in the Division II final first at 6 p.m.
Saint Mark’s dispatched Wilmington Friends 4-2 and the Auks upset top-seeded Caravel 2-1 in the semifinals. Archmere avenged a 4-1 regular-season loss to Caravel in that game and now seeks a repeat after falling 5-2 to Saint Mark’s in April.
The 8 p.m. Division I final also matches teams that know each other quite well as district rivals Middletown (14-2-1) and Appoquinimink (14-3) duel in a matchup of the top two seeds. Middletown prevailed 1-0 in overtime in their regular-season showdown.
In Wednesday’s semifinals, Middletown nipped perennial power Padua 1-0 to avenge a 2022 title-game loss and Appo ousted Smyrna 3-1.
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Familiar finalists
Saturday’s 2 p.m. boys lacrosse title game at Dover High matches well-acquainted rivals.
It’ll be the fourth straight championship showdown between Salesianum and Cape Henlopen, with Salesianum having won the last two. The Sals have made 16 straight title games.
Top-seeded Sallies (13-4) scored a 10-6 regular-season win on May 6 against Cape Henlopen (15-3), the No. 7 seed. Both have, as expected, blitzed through the state tournament bracket, Sallies winning 19-2, 19-3 and 13-3 and Cape prevailing 24-1, 15-7 and 17-4.
But this will likely be close, as each of their last three title collisions were decided by two goals.
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The DIAA softball final is also Saturday at 2 p.m. at the University of Delaware, where long-time powerhouse Caravel returns after winning its second straight title last year.
The top-seeded Bucs (17-2) face No. 6 Indian River (18-3), which is in the title game for just the second time, having downed Saint Mark’s 2-0 way back in 1998.
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