By Greg McCorkle

The Seahawks came back to the SWAC with the hopes of getting a two game sweep of the Raiders from Nathan Hale. Sealth got that ball rolling two days earlier with a resounding 7-2 victory on the Raiders turf, and with the return to their home diamond the Seahawks were confident in their ability to put another “W” in the score sheet.

Stealth’s ace right hander Blaine Steel was on the mound for the game. Steele controlled the game in the first two innings allowing no hits or runs as he kept the Raiders batters off balance. But the Hawks lumber could fair no better. Their only hit came from a double by Sealth right fielder Lee Lee in the second and he was stranded and got no further.

As the bottom of the Hale rotation came around they began to find some wiggle room in Steele’s delivery and started making contact. By the time Sealth got out of the third they found themselves down 3-0. The Seahawks bats started to come to life but just couldn’t pull the trigger and again left points on the bags.
Steele settled down in the fourth and kept the Raider hitters at bay but Hale’s gloves forced the Seahawks out of the inning with some good defense. Again the scoreboard registered a goose egg for Chief Sealth. It’s not that the Seahawk batters weren’t able to get hits, they did and solid contact as well. Unfortunately those well hit balls went right to Raiders players. The score board still read 3-0.

To start the fifth inning Coach Policarpio pull Steele for another righty in Jackson Chilcott to face the heart of the Raiders batting order which is loaded with left handed batters. Nathan Hale wasted no time in jumping all over Jackson to the tune of four runs. The difference between the two batting orders was Hale hit the balls into blank spaces on the field whereas the Seahawks simply hit right to the Raiders. It was as if Nathan Hale listened to Yogi Barra’s famous line “Hit ‘em where they aint” and took it to heart.

There was a glimmer of hope for Sealth in the sixth when Bryan Karl crushed a hanging curve ball up the third base line and deep into the outfield for a triple and Mason Moe brought him home. Sealth would pick up another run to close the gap to 7-2 but that was they could muster and ended up splitting the series 1-1.
The Seahawks look to bounce back against Seattle Prep on Monday the 7th at Steve Cox Field in White Center. First pitch is 3:30pm.