The Indian River varsity baseball team earned its third consecutive Southern Division title following a 5-4 come-from-behind win over Milford on May 9. Indians right-fielder Mark Ahfeldt came through again with his second walk-off RBI single in consecutive games, with a one-out, sharply hit grounder that got past a diving Buccaneer second-baseman, to plate fellow outfielder Zack Warner in the bottom of the seventh.
Thomas Veith catches a fly ball.Indian River then extended its seven-game win streak to eight by beating Cape Henlopen for the second time this season.
With the state tournament looming, Indian River dropped their first game in nearly a month in an 11-1 loss to last season’s state champion, Caravel, on May 14. Indian River defeated Caravel 3-2 around the same time last year before getting knocked out of the state tournament by William Penn in the second round.
Indians centerfielder Thomas Veith mentioned that they would have to play better against the top-ranked teams if they wanted to improve on last year’s efforts.
“We’ve got to step it up and play up to their level,” Veith said of Caravel. “They’re one of the best teams in the state, and we have to play our best if we’re going to beat teams like them.”
Indian River committed four costly errors — three on one at-bat — against Milford, which extended the Bucs’ lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth. Bucs’ Johnny Michael singled down the right-field line but he was able to advance to third on two throwing errors.
Michaels scored on the very next pitch, on what should’ve been a sure pop-out in centerfield. Veith admitted that he was thinking about a throw to home plate to keep the score tied at two apiece, rather than about making the catch for the first out of the inning.
“I was thinking about making the throw instead of making the catch first,” Veith said.
And those are the type of plays that will spell an early exit from the state tournament according to Veith.
Sean Lewis rounds second and heads toward third against Milford on Thursday, May 10.“We all know that we can compete, but we’re still not playing up to [the caliber] where we can play,” he added. “Teams are too good for us to make those kinds of mistakes.”
The Indians will play Sussex Central on May 16 at the Pyle Center and will finish up a scoreless 10-inning game against Laurel on May 17 at Indian River High School.