Baseball- CHC 4, Steward 3 (8 innings)

The Dolphins and Spartans battled it out on the Diamond Friday night, with Cape Henry’s Rush Friedberg and Aiden Kuhle making the difference in the late-inning thriller. Aiden’s performance on the mound was nothing short of spectacular, fanning ten batters on 94 pitches through eight innings pitched. Extraordinarily, Aiden captured his third complete game of the season as he allowed only three runs on six hits, and brought his season ERA -– 3.00 is considered very good — to an unbelievable .500. The Dolphins took an early lead, scoring two in the bottom of the first and adding the third run in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 3-0 lead. With the Dolphins in control, Steward put the pressure on the Dolphin defense in the sixth inning as the Spartans connected for two runs on two hits. After a quick bottom of the sixth, Steward struck again for the game-tying run to force extra innings. With chances to strike for more, Rush Friedberg’s diving play at first base and another clutch pick at first base thwarted the Spartan momentum.

Now carrying the momentum into the bottom of the eighth inning, Kenny Schaedel reached base on an error from the Spartan defense and heads up base running on the play allowed Kenny to advance to second. In a 3-3 ballgame facing an 0-2 count with two outs, the freshmen came up clutch with Rush Friedberg in the batter’s box. Rush drilled the past the second baseman into right field, Kenny chugged past third base, and with the throw reaching the catcher; Schaedel masterfully avoided the tag to complete Friedberg’s walkoff base hit. As the Dolphins ceremoniously rushed the field to congratulate the game-winning base knock, the Dolphins took the final lead of the night with a 4-3 win in extra innings. Aiden Kuhle led the offense with a 3-4 day at the plate, adding a RBI in the process. Both Kenny Schaedel and Bryce Jones produced 2-3 performances at the plate and scored a run on Friday night. Rounding out the hit column in Friday’s contest, Kyle Edwards, Dane Hoggard, Trent Jones, and Rush Friedberg each collected one hit apiece. The Dolphins are back in action Tuesday for a matchup with Princess Anne High School beginning at 4:30 pm.