Cape baseball advances to semifinals

The No. 1 Cape baseball team defeated Delaware Military Academy 7-5 in the state tournament quarterfinals May 27 at Chris Short Memorial Field.

The Vikings move to the semifinals Friday, May 30, to face No. 4 Salesianum at Frawley Stadium in Wilmington. Game time is set for 12 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for May 29, but was moved. 

Cape senior catcher Jase Mitchell was 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs. 

“He left that slider up over the plate,” said Mitchell. “I knew I was on his fastball the whole game, and I knew he was going to it on that count and I just hit it out. I trusted my teammates to get on base for me the entire game. It was a great result for us.” 

Jaxon Clampitt was 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored, Malachi Woods was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Brady Kosc was 2-for-2, hit by two pitches and scored three runs.

Clampitt picked up the win on the mound, while Jacob Smith came in from the bullpen with two outs and one runner on base in the sixth to get the save.

“Them scoring probably fired us up more,” said Clampitt. “We needed to keep our energy up because it’s a playoff game and you go home if you lose. We needed to raise the energy, and I think we did.”

“It was an exciting game,” said Cape coach Ben Evick. “We knew it was going to be a battle. They are a well-coached team, and we knew they weren’t going to quit. We knew we needed to step up. Putting up a three in the first inning helped. We went a little flat in the middle innings, but our guys stuck to the approach. Jaxon weathered that storm and Jacob came in and finished it up.” 

No. 2 Sussex Central will host No. 6 Conrad in the other semifinal at 3 p.m., May 30, at Frawley Stadium.

The finals will be held at 7 p.m., Sunday, June 1, at Frawley.