#1 Ocean Lakes-20 Kempsville-12 FINALWP-Pat Ryan(1-0)
HR-K: 1 OL: S.Eure, T. Clements 2,
In one of the wildest showdowns this year, the Dolphins of Ocean Lakes finally came out on top. The last time these two met, Kempsville was held hitless, needless to say that was not going to happen today.
Tyler Clements was not able to find his stuff on the hill like last time when he faced the Chiefs, as he tossed a no hitter. He was hammered early today for several runs and surrendered many walks, but he helped himself climb out of his hole as he found his luck in the batters box this afternoon. Clements had what seemed to be a career day as he went 4-5 with 2 doubles, 2 home runs and a BB.
The Dolphins jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the 1st inning on two home runs by Eure and Clements. Kempsville then scored 7 unnanswered runs in the bottom half of the 2nd to make the score 7-4, this would call an end to Clements day on the hill. Riley Koonce then came in unable to stop the bleeding, giving up back to back doubles before being pulled for Pat Ryan. In the top of the 3rd, Clements came through with his second hit of the afternoon as he doubled to score Eure, making the score 7-5. In the bottom half Kemspville would answer with a run of their own making the lead once again three, at 8-5.
In the top of the 4th, Kempsville almost escaped a huge jam with the bases loaded and no outs. After getting Morimando to pop up to 1B and Eure to strike out, Clements would come through with his 3rd hit of the game and 2nd home run, a Grand Slam that seemed to have never landed. That made the score 9-8. Kempsville was able to tie it up in the bottom of the 4th on a sacrifice fly making the score 9 all, but this would be the last time Kempsville would have a chance at victory as pitching fell apart late for the Chiefs.
In the top of the 5th, hits, walks and hit by pitches helped the Dolphins to regain the lead 13-9, as Killian Strenn would get what would prove to be the game winning RBI on a triple. The 6th and 7th would prove not to be much better for Kempsville as Ocean Lakes scored 7 more runs over the next two innings to put the game away. Kempsville was able to scratch across 1 in the 6th and 2 in the 7th, but that would not be near enough for the Chiefs as the final score would be 20-12.
Ocean Lakes now moves to 16-3 (14-1 Beach District) with the win and continues to stay atop the Beach and Eastern Region. The Diamond Fins return to the field on Monday, May 17th, as they take on the Princess Anne Cavaliers @ 5PM for Senior Night at Ocean Lakes. The last time these two teams met, Ocean Lakes won 13-3 on the road. Ocean Lakes is looking to win its first Beach District Regular Season Title for the first time in 9 years with a win on Monday.
**Shout out to my father and brother who helped me keep track with the game and provide notes on the game today, as well a shoutout to Frank Morimando and Kenny Bryant for the help with the writeups previously.
**
