Royals baseball takes apart Christiana 11-0

The Delmarva Christian baseball squad shut out Christiana 11-0 March 25 in Georgetown to improve to 1-1.

Royals senior Xavier Efford threw four shutout innings, giving up just one hit while striking out eight batters. Junior Kasey Bell relieved Efford in the fifth and struck out the side to preserve the shutout.

“It took me a couple of innings to lock in, start throwing strikes and find the zone,” said Efford. “After that, I was pretty dialed in and started throwing strikes, and everything was working for me. It’s great to be able go out and just pitch, knowing that I have a good defense behind me that can make the plays and have hitters to give me a lead to work with. This game helped me to see what pitches I need to work on for the next outing.”

The Royals got on the scoreboard with five runs in the first inning. Efford, Garrett Rogers and Matthew Heacook all had RBIs, while Chase Hitchens knocked in two runs.

The Royals continued the barrage in the third when they hung five more on the visiting Vikings, as Tyler Hutt and Malakai Jones teamed for three RBIs.

Freshman Elvis Millaway also had a hit for the Royals.

“X pitched well today, and he hit well too,” said Royals coach Jeff Bell. “It was good to jump on them with five runs right away. We pitched well, played defense well and ran the bases well. We were mistake-free today. That’s what I’m proud of. I thought we put some swings on the ball and that’s important. A couple of times, we struck out looking, and nothing good comes from that. We have to do all the little things correct, and that will help us down the road.”

Parker Boris had the lone hit for Christiana.