For The Dialog
WILMINGTON — Caravel Academy managed a measure of revenge against St. Mark’s High School, defeating the Spartans, 8-0, to win the DIAA baseball championship Sunday afternoon at Frawley Stadium. St. Mark’s, looking for its third straight title, beat the Buccaneers in last year’s final.
St. Mark’s, which was the top-seeded team in the tournament, had base runners on most of the game but could not get a timely hit off Caravel’s senior left-hander, Cory Hart. The Spartans left 12 men on base, including six in the first two innings.
Third-seeded Caravel pounded out 12 hits in the game, chasing St. Mark’s lefty Billy Phillips after six innings. The Bucs got on the board in the top of the second inning. Brandon Fraley led off with a single and stole second. An error and a bunt loaded the bases, and freshman Tyler Juhl knocked in two runs with a single up the middle.
The score remained 2-0 until the sixth, when Caravel pulled away. Ryan Zwler led off with a double, followed by a single by Fraley. Phillips hit a batter with the bases loaded to bring in one run, and a strikeout later Darnell Savage plated two more with a single. Jason Bilious added an RBI single, and Brandon Erne finished the scoring by lashing a two-run double.
Hart retired the Spartans in order in the seventh to end the game and set off a wild celebration among the Buccaneers’ faithful. Caravel, which won its fourth championship, finished the season 18-2, while St. Mark’s ended up 19-3.