Indian River baseball nabs a 10-0 shutout over Seaford

After succumbing to a couple of upstate powerhouses, Indian River High School’s varsity baseball team bounced back on Tuesday, April 16, as they handled Seaford, 10-0, forcing a mercy rule in the fifth inning, behind clutch pitching and hitting throughout the lineup. The win brought the Indians up to a 4-4 record on the year and kept the Blue Jays of Seaford winless so far this season.

Coastal Point • R. Chris Clark
Indian Rivers Jordie Rogers gets dirty as he beats the ball back to third base during Tuesday game hosting Seaford. The Indians trounced the Blue Jays, 10-0 in five innings, improving their overall record to 3-3, and denying Seaford their first win of the season.

The Indians scored eight runs on 10 hits. Collier Donald, Jamie Jarmon and Fabian McCray each contributed a couple of RBIs, while Jordie Rogers knocked in one, as well. Jarmon’s shot down the first-base line in the bottom of a fifth took a favorable bounce for the Indians, allowing Donald to round the bases for the game-winning score. Senior pitcher Brian Bacon controlled the mound for all five innings, picking up six strikeouts.

Indian River head coach Kevin Cordrey recognized the steady bats that were moving for the hosting Indians.

“We made contact in situations when people were on base,” he said. “I thought we did really well with that, and I’m happy we were able to get as many guys into the rotation as we did.”

Though the Blue Jays have struggled this year, Cordrey said he understood that his team couldn’t come out too confident.

“We can’t take any team in the conference or the division lightly,” he said. “There are no cake teams in the conference. Even a team like Seaford has been improving. They’ve got a great coaching staff behind them. You could tell in the way they were warming up.”

Tuesday’s win came after the Indians dropped two straight over the break against defending state champions Caravel Academy and St. Marks, who has earned the state title six times in the last nine years.

“We knew those would be tough games,” said Cordrey, “but, overall, we still have a lot that we need to work on. We’re not playing great ball lately, so, at practice, it’s back to the drawing board. I want these guys to get intense when they come out to these games. We need to get some adversity out here on the diamond.”

The Indians possess depth on the mound, and, although pleased with Bacon’s performance, Cordrey said he was hoping that Tuesday would warrant the full seven innings so he could get a closer out there.

“I really wished we played the full game,” he said. “I would have liked to get another pitcher out there to keep their arms loose, but Brian did a nice job out there.”

The Indians were set to head to Delmar on Thursday, April 19, (after Coastal Point press deadline), and will host Woodbridge on Tuesday, April 24.

“We’ve got to come out to each game with the attitude we had against Sussex Central,” said Cordrey, referencing the team’s 7-1 win at the Pyle Center earlier this month. “We can do it. We’ve just got to play with adversity and be intense.”