Silverdale Seahawks win state opener 5-1

Friday, January 1, 1904

photo Silverdale Baptist players congratulate pitcher Reid Clements (6) after winning their game against Trousdale County Friday at Silverdale Baptist Academy in Chattanooga, Tenn.

SILVERDALE BAPTIST 5, ROCKWOOD 1

Silverdale Baptist - 001 - 220 - 0 - 5 - 4 - 1Rockwood - 000 - 100 - 0 - 1 - 5 - 3WP: Reid Clements (8-0) 12 Ks. LP; Jared Breazeale. 2B: Jordan Delashmitt (SBA). Other highlights: Joey Szollosi RBI; Chance Brown 2-3, RBI; Jordan Delashmitt RBI (SBA). Records: Silverdale Baptist 27-2; Rockwood 25-8.

photo Spring Fling 2013 tile

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Reid Clements swore he didn't feel comfortable on the mound until the fifth inning.

He certainly fooled everyone watching his pitching performance in the first round of the Class A state baseball tournament Tuesday evening at Middle Tennessee Christian School.

Clements especially fooled the 12 Rockwood batters he struck out, mostly with a snapping curveball, to lead Silverdale Baptist Academy to a 5-1 win. The game was delayed more than an hour because of wet field conditions, and Clements said the mound was not in good condition.

"I was slipping and having trouble finding my footing," he said after his five-hitter. "The mound finally started to dry out and I really started to feel good around the fifth inning.

"But the main thing is we got the win. Everybody was nervous before this game, but now we know for sure that we can play with anybody at this level."

Silverdale will play Decatur County today at 1 p.m. EDT. Decatur County, which beat Summertown, is a three-time Class A state champion.

SBA's Seahawks scored a run in the third inning when Spencer Mossburg led off with a walk, stole second, moved to third on Josh Bankston's sacrifice bunt and scored on Joey Szollosi's fielder's choice.

Aggressive baserunning helped push two more runs across the plate in the fourth. Chance Brown, who had singled with one out, scored when Jordan Delashmitt's double was misplayed in left field, and Delashmitt later raced home on a wild pitch. Brown added a two-out RBI in the fifth.

"That's our style. It's how we've played all year," Silverdale coach Jonathan Adcock said. "Our guys are aggressive. There are no egos and everybody just wants to do whatever it takes to win.

"We had never even won our district before this season. Now we have championships in the district and region, and we won our sectional and now a state tournament game. How much happier can you be?"