Silverdale Baptist win sets up showdown with Boyd-Buchanan

Brett Boles of CSAS prepares to slide into second base ahead of the throw to Silverdale Baptist Academy second baseman Sawyer Junkins as Silverdale hosts the Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences in a high school baseball game on Thursday, Apr. 14, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Brett Boles of CSAS prepares to slide into second base ahead of the throw to Silverdale Baptist Academy second baseman Sawyer Junkins as Silverdale hosts the Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences in a high school baseball game on Thursday, Apr. 14, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn.
photo Alex Gonzales of Silverdale steps on home plate ahead of the tag from CSAS pitcher Alex Payne to score the game's first run as Silverdale Baptist Academy hosts the Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences in a high school baseball game on Thursday, Apr. 14, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Silverdale Baptist was focused Thursday, after a closer-than-wanted Tuesday win over Arts & Sciences, but with an eye toward the future.

The Seahawks assured themselves of no worse than second place in District 5-A baseball with a five-inning, 13-1 victory over CSAS.

"That game with them Tuesday - they led most of the game and then ran out of pitching late. They probably should've won," SBA coach Jonathan Adcock said of what became an 11-3 win. "That 11-3 is no indication of how that game was going. I told the guys we had to be more aggressive at the plate."

He and his staff made sure their team was mindful of that fact long before the teams took the field again Thursday afternoon.

"CSAS always plays hard, and if you give them a chance they'll come back on you. We told the guys if you get up on them you have to keep applying the pressure," Adcock said.

The Seahawks got up early and did indeed keep the pressure on. Pitcher Alex Payne went three innings and departed with a 9-1 lead, the one run being unearned. He struck out five.

"It was a good outing. I wasn't too good with my off-speed stuff today, but hopefully working in the bullpen will change that," Payne said.

"The guys did a good job of hitting line drives, going opposite field and running the bases smart. I thought we did a lot of good things offensively," Adcock said.

The offense, aided by three Patriots errors in an eight-run second inning, put the game out of reach with a four-run fourth. Collin Daniell had the key hit, a towering home run to center with a pair of teammates aboard.

Bryant, who singled sharply to left and drove in a run, was not surprised by the offensive effort.

"If we can get one person to get a hit, it starts a roll. We really get momentum," he said.

Daniell had two hits in three trips, Blake Howard went 1-for-2 with two RBIs and Tyler Mossburg also plated two runs. Seven of the nine Seahawks hitters contributed at least one hit.

Silverdale, now 4-0 in 5-A, has Monday-Tuesday games with 2015 state attendee Boyd-Buchanan, which has a 3-1 district record, the loss coming to CSAS.

The Seahawks will play a nondistrict rematch Saturday against another rival, Chattanooga Christian. Adcock is likely to use numerous pitching staff members in a tuneup for the Buccaneers.

"We beat them 2-1 earlier, so you know they'll be out for blood," he said. "We're going to pitch some guys that need to throw - several that need it just to keep them ready."

Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him on Twitter @wardgossett.

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