Sports

Last Friday's Homecoming football game at Stephen Decatur High School resulted in an exciting victory for the Seahawks. The team earned an impressive win, besting the Easton Warriors 41-8. Stephen Decatur gained the upper hand almost immediately. Following a pass to Decatur junior Tim VanVonno resulting in a first down, senior D.J. Kee, a skilled athlete who has thrice won Bank of Ocean City's Player of the Week, scored on a 25 yard play. Sophomore Jared King nailed the point after making it an early 7-0. Decatur was unable to score again in the first quarter, but skillfully kept their opponents from scoring. Even though the Warriors intercepted a Seahawk pass near the beginning of the second quarter they were unable able to score. Kee once again demonstrated his gift for football by scoring a remarkable 75 yard touchdown. The point after was completed by King, and the tally jumped to 14-0. Before the first half ended, Kee was again able to gain a 25 yard touchdown, bringing the sc...

BERLIN — The sound of applause preceded even the bagpipes as the Berlin Little League All Stars made their way down Main Street during Sunday’s victory parade.  All of the town’s all-star teams placed well in the various tournaments and all were recognized for their accomplishments. Still, the primary attraction was the Under-10 All Star Team that captured the Maryland State Championship and nearly the Eastern Regional Championship. On the porch of the Taylor House Museum where he would soon open the Peach Festival, Mayor Gee Williams congratulated all the teams but singled out the team that went the farthest in tournament play. “I’m proud and honored to do something that no other mayor in the history of Berlin has done,” he said before congratulating the first Berlin Little League team ever to capture the state title. Williams pointed out that the Berlin Little League, which has among the smallest pool of potential players, placed second ou...

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — For some softball players the season begins in March and ends in May. But for others, like Maddie Justice, there is no such thing as an off-season. So, while other graduates are busy working on their tan at the beach, Justice, a recent Stephen Decatur High School graduate, has dedicated the majority of her summer to traveling from state to state playing softball with her travel team, the Vienna Stars. In fact, this has been her routine for the last eight years.  “I’ve played softball in every time zone,” Justice said. All kidding aside, the former SDHS standout has traveled many miles over the last several summers. She has played tournaments in North Dakota, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, North and South Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware. Her career began in 2003, playing for a team based out of Delaware. At just 10 years old, she had no idea about how many softball games awaited her.  “...

SALISBURY — In just seven days the Perdue Chicks were able to capture not one, but two championship titles. First, Perdue notched its 10th Eastern Shore Baseball League championship in the past seventeen years. The Chicks’ 3-0 win over the Eastern Shore Hurricanes secured a berth to the National Amateur Baseball Federation Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament that is held in Salisbury this week.  Last Sunday, Perdue added another trophy to its collection as they swept the Jimmy Carter Memorial Tournament. En route to their 11th tournament title the Chicks defeated Tri-County 6-0 in the championship game held at Henry S. Parker Complex.  On the hill, Perdue used five pitchers who combined for the three-hit shut out. At the dish, Paul Stortini and D.J. Long led the way with two hits each. Stortini, a 2009 graduate of Stephen Decatur High School, is batting .409 with 15 RBIs this season. He is currently leading the team in home runs with two. Also, another former Seaha...

SALISBURY — Parents of the Mid-Atlantic Shockers girls softball team spent the better part of last week shuffling around Wicomico County in the stifling heat. But all the travel, cooler and equipment packing and quick meals on the road were worth it in the end as the Under 14 team took the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) Eastern World Series in convincing style. “We took it all,” Coach Joe Leque said. “We weren’t supposed to, but we did.” The Ocean Pines resident  was pretty sure the team would have a rebuilding season this year, especially after a rocky start. Only about half of the kids who played on last year’s team returned and integrating all the new personalities together was a concern for Leque. He said the first step was to build unity and the kids who returned this year were just the right ones to form the nucleus around which the newcomers could coalesce.  “We started out the year rough,R...

OCEAN PINES — It is a rare and special pleasure to listen at length to someone who has lived through half a century of incredible events, whatever they happen to be. But for the golf enthusiasts who filled the better part of the Country Club last weekend to hear Billy Casper speak and to ask him questions about his career, the insider stories about the golden age of golf was a particular treat. The 80-year-old Casper is no stranger to Ocean Pines. Having worked as the club touring professional at the height of his career, he was in the unique position of returning to the club 40 years after he left it. “What a pleasant atmosphere to play golf under these beautiful trees, I’m just amazed at the beauty that was here,” he said of the golf course. “When I was here there was nothing.” Casper offered a good-natured critique about how, beautiful though they were, older players like him would be just as happy with fewer trees which would help drive scor...

In June the Perdue Chicks did something that they have not done since last year—they lost. Since losing to Tri-County 2-1 on June 19, the Chicks have captured 4 consecutive victories while outscoring their opponents 61-4. Furthermore, their last few contests have been cut short due to a mercy-rule, which terminates the game after seven innings if a team is winning by at least 10 runs.  On Sunday, Perdue swept Creighton Trailers in run-rule fashion by a score of 12-2 and 19-0. In the opener, Troy Bennett improved to 2-0 and struck out a pair in four innings of work.  Bennett, a 2010 graduate of Stephen Decatur High School currently has an earned-run average of 2.45 this season the season. At the plate, the Chicks line-up seemed impossible to get out as they belted out 15 hits, including a 3 for 4 performance by Lucas Koenig. Another Decatur alum, Koenig is batting .458 on the season.  Perdue’s bats did not deflate in game 2 of the July 10 double-header coll...

BERLIN – Most everyone has heard the expression, “third time’s a charm,” and going into the MPSSAA 3A East region semifinal on May 18 against an undefeated James M. Bennett squad, the Stephen Decatur baseball team hoped that was true.  Unfortunately for the Seahawks, this third time was not a charm as they suffered a season-ending 6-0 loss to the Clippers.  After falling twice to the Clippers in regular season play, Stephen Decatur head coach Rich Ferro asked his players nothing more than to play their best. “I wanted us to play like we deserved to be there,” he said.   Despite a solid pitching effort by starter Mike O’Neill, Bennett pitcher Cannan Cropper stymied the Seahawks’ bats, striking out nine over seven innings. O’Neill held his own on the mound, tallying six strikeouts before giving way to reliever Steve Ruggiere in the sixth inning.  Bennett scored early and often by taking advantage of timely...

BERLIN — When opposing coach Bill Wheatly called him over after Monday night’s game the game the last thing 10-year-old Hayden Snelsire expected to hear was congratulations on throwing a no-hitter. “I was shocked,” Snelsire said. And he wasn’t the only one. Snelsire pitches for the Berlin Little League Yankees in the major league division. He was set to face the Phillies, a team with notoriously hot bats. Yankees coach Cameron McDonough started the game with some of his best fielders deep in the outfield. “I put them there thinking [the Phillies] might knock him around a little,” he said. “But he kept them completely off-balance.” Snelsire is the only fourth-grader in the league and the youngest of only five 10-year-olds in the 11-12-year-old division. Although he’s proud of his accomplishment, Snelsire credited both his coach and his teammates for his success. “Our coach usually calls the pitches,” he said. ...

BERLIN — After suffering an opening day loss to the Yankees, the Berlin Little League Orioles staged a comeback in the late innings of Monday night’s game against the White Sox to win the major league game 7-4. Right-hander Zac Cioccio logged 10 strikeouts for the win and Matt Kinsey picked up the save adding three strikeouts. The Orioles jumped to a 4-0 start early but the White Sox tied the game rallying behind their pitcher Jake Shockley to even the score. The Orioles ground back into the lead behind the hitting of Noah Shockley who supplied a two-run triple and Brennon Holloway who hit a two-run double. Tate Shockley also came through for the Orioles with a triple.