CLAYMONT — The Archmere baseball team opened its season on March 22 in Claymont by welcoming defending state champion Delaware Military Academy to town. The game was an old-fashioned pitching duel as Auks sophomore Carsten Kaiser outdueled the Seahawks’ Tyler August in the 2-1 Auks win.
Kaiser was perfect through the first four innings and by throwing to contact he kept his pitch count reasonable. August had a no-hitter through three innings, but the Auks would get a run in the fourth without a hit. Nick Zhu reached on a two-base error, got to third and scored on a sacrifice fly from Matt Dellose.
The Seahawks, ranked first in the Delaware Live preseason rankings, got their first hit from August, who singled to start the fifth, and was on third base with one out. He scored on a sacrifice fly to tie the score, but only after just beating the throw from centerfielder Chris Albero, who threw a rope home.
The Auks would get a two-out rally going in the bottom of the fifth. Mason Nowaczyk reached on a hit by pitch on August’s 85th pitch, the limit in the early season. Nowaczyk got to third on a single and scored on a Matt Keen grounder that nearly resulted in a force out at second base.
Kaiser gave up a two-out hit in the sixth and then got two outs in the seventh before he had to exit after hitting the pitch limit. Freshman Jonathan O’Boyle came in and coaxed a fly ball on his only pitch to get the save. Each team finished with two hits in the contest.
The Auks (1-0) travel to Middletown on Thursday for a 3:45 p.m. first pitch. The Seahawks (0-1) will host Red Lion on Friday afternoon at 4.
All photos by Jason Winchell.
