Maybe the summer’s heat is rubbing off on the Sussex East Warriors Legion baseball team, because they’re on fire. They’ve won 10 of their last 11 games, to extend their record to 11-7 overall and 10-7 in the conference, after starting the season 1-6.
Coastal Point • RUSLANA LAMBERT
Third baseman Bryan Lynch scoops up and fires a sharply hit ground ball to first in a 7-1 win over Post 1. Post 28 holds a 2-1 record against Post 1 this season.
They batted 1.000 against upstate teams in their last three double-headers, including a 11-1 slaughter-rule win over a highly-touted Delvets team and a 7-1 win over Delaware Post 1 (both from the Wilmington area) in a split double-header on July 14.
The Warriors swept both Newark and R.C. DuPont the previous two Saturdays, and it seems that now they’re starting to gain serious traction within the division.
“We’re definitely getting in the groove,” Warriors head coach Jody Sweetman said. “And that’s come with more consistent playing time. Our pitching is getting hot and our hitting is getting really, really good right now, and we’ve been playing good defense.”
Colin Warner (4-0) and Trevor Abbott (3-1) both worked complete games in double-header wins this past weekend. Warner allowed only one run on four hits (only one extra base hit, a double) and one walk while striking out seven over five innings.
Abbott, on the other hand, would have to put a little more work in — but he would finish all seven innings. Like Warner, Abbott allowed only one run and struck out seven but was hit a bit more. Abbott gave up six hits, but Post 1 didn’t reach base until the fourth inning. From there Abbott gave up five hits with only one producing any runs.
Post 1 loaded the bases behind three singles — one hit into right field and two infield singles — before Kevin Hopkins drove in the lone run with one out. Abbott got out of the inning by getting the next two batters to pop out to centerfielder Brian Scott.
Warner (1.11 ERA) and Abbott (2.86 ERA) are arguably the teams’ best two pitchers, but the Warriors have more talent than just that. Collectively, the team has an ERA of 1.90 (excluding Zac Spece’s ERA of 17.50, since he hasn’t played with Sussex East since the beginning of the season) and potentially they have six quality starters come the state tournament.
Mike Casale (1-1) has started five games and also has a 2.63 ERA. C.J. Bell (0-1) has three games under his belt and his 1.83 ERA is second only to Warner’s. D.J. Long (0-1, 2.33 ERA), Luis Barrientos (0-1, 3.15 ERA) and Sean Lecates (1-0, 0.0 ERA) have each pitched in two games but have plenty of experience on the mound during for their respective high-school teams.
“We have the best pitching in the state, and you can quote me on that,” boasted Warriors assistant head coach Brendan Warner following their split double-header sweep of Delvets and Post 1.
And it’s not like other teams haven’t noticed their talent either.
“Post 28 has some of the best pitching, in my opinion,” R.C. DuPont head coach Don Kimsey said. “They’re going to surprise some people in the (state) tournament.”
Part of the reason the Warriors pitching staff’s ERA is so low is because the team’s defensive play. They turned two double plays (one in each game on July 14) and made several plays to eliminate base runners. Whether it is an assist from the outfield or a flip from the first baseman to a covering pitcher or a pickoff — Sussex East is getting it done defensively.
“Defensively, we’re making plays,” Sweetman said.
“And we have a number of combinations that we can play in the middle infield,” he added.
Between D.J. Long, Sean Lewis (Long and Lewis were both All-State selections at shortstop), C.J. Bell and Cameron Travalini, Sweetman has the manager’s joy of putting the best team on the field.
Offensively, Post 28 is really heating up. Since June 30, the Warriors have raised their team batting average from .300 to .327, and now they have eight batters instead of seven, hitting better than .300. D.J. Long and Bryan Lynch lead the team in batting average (.542 and .500, respectively) and Matt Williamson and Mike Casale both have batting averages of .400.
And it appears to rubbing off on the rest of the team. During team’s split double-header sweep of Delvets and Post 1, only two batters didn’t reach base (both in the second game against Post 1) by way of a hit in two games. And Travalini and Lecates — both of whom batted in the nine spot in their respective games — each recorded two hits apiece.
“Last year, we were weak at our eight and nine hitters,” Sweetman said. “But, this year, we have batters up and down our lineup.
“We might not hit every game, but there’s always that threat,” he added.
Sweetman also mentioned that one reason that the Warriors have been so successful — especially against the upstate teams — is that they aren’t pitching their No. 1’s against them.
“I think what happened is that we came out slow and teams that hadn’t played us yet thought maybe we lost something,” Sweetman explained. “They know we lost some key players (Josh Dean, D.J. Clark and Jay Marsh, to eligibility) and weren’t sure if we’d picked up anything. So, they figured they weren’t going to waste their best pitcher against us.”
If that is the case, then the Warriors are bent on making them sorry for taking them lightly.
“I guess they think because we’re from ‘slower lower Delaware’ that they can take us lightly,” Lynch said. “But I don’t mind being the underdog. We’ll fly under the radar and, if they don’t come out to play, then we’ll punch them in the mouth.”
The trick is making sure they play enough games, because it’s very possible that Sussex East may not make the tournament, despite their record, because of unplayed games. Currently, Sweetman is in the process of rescheduling two double-headers, against Stahl Post and Oak Grove. And because a forfeit costs -2 points, teams that are on the bubble points-wise, like Sussex East, are scrambling to get these games played, because even a loss helps.
“It’s to your advantage to play all the games, because you lose points for forfeits,” Sweetman explained. “Georgetown is 5-13 and is down in the points right now, but if we can’t get our games rescheduled and have to take forfeits and they win three of four, then we could feasibly not make the tournament and they could.”
Sussex East’s previously scheduled game against Milford has been rescheduled for July 26, at 6 p.m. at the old Indian River High School baseball field.