The Decatur Gator baseball team hasn’t had much to cheer about early in the season.
But that all changed earlier this week. The Gators (2-8 overall, 2-5 SPSL South) picked up their second win in a row Tuesday after starting the season 0-8 when they blew out the Spanaway Lake Sentinels 10-0 in six innings. The Gators also beat Graham-Kapowsin, 4-3, on Monday afternoon.
Decatur got a pair of huge days from Zach Jacobs and Ofero Taitano against Spanaway Lake. Jacobs tossed a six-inning no hitter against the Sentinels. The junior, who spent most of the summer playing baseball in Florida, stuck out 10 batters and walked only two during the shutout.
Taitano, a senior, was the Gators’ star at the plate. Taitano finished 3 for 4 with a home run, double, and six RBIs during the win.
On Monday, the Gators picked up their first win of the season against Graham-Kapowsin. Ramiro Ponce got the win on the mound for Decatur. The Gators scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning to erase a 3-1 Graham-Kapowsin lead.
The Federal Way Eagles picked up a huge 5-4 win over the Tahoma Bears Tuesday afternoon. Federal Way (5-4 overall, 3-3 SPSL North) tallied two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take the lead for good.
The Eagles got a pair of big days at the plate from Drew Cratsenberg and Nick Tanielu. Cratsenberg finished 2 for 3 with a double and two RBIs and Tanielu, who led the SPSL in home runs a season ago, belted his third of the season against Tahoma. The junior shortstop finished 2 for 4 with two RBIs. TJ Horsfall picked up with the win on the mound, going five innings.
The Todd Beamer Titans couldn’t keep up with Rogers Tuesday afternoon, losing 9-1. The Titans (5-4 overall, 3-3 SPSL North) were only able to muster four hits. Jeff Apigo finished 1 for 3 with a solo home run, which accounted for Beamer’s only run.
Softball
Jefferson (7-1 overall, 5-0 SPSL North) remained unbeaten in the SPSL North with a 6-4 victory over Kentwood Tuesday afternoon at home. After giving up three runs to the Conquerors in the top of the first, the Raiders fought back to tally the next six runs, including four in the fourth inning.
Katie Jackson picked up the win on the mound and also finished 2 for 3 with a double at the plate. Senior Hannah Kiyohara finished 2 for 3 with two RBIs.
Beamer (5-3 overall, 3-2 SPSL South) almost knocked off the top dog in the SPSL South Tuesday, but fell short against unbeaten Rogers. The Rams beat the Titans 6-5 in Puyallup.
Rogers (7-0) took a 6-1 lead with four runs in the bottom of the third, but Beamer fought back to pull to within one run. Brianne Grosche finished with three RBIs.
Decatur (3-5 overall, 2-2 SPSL South) got by Spanaway Lake on Tuesday, 4-1. Shelley Van Wagner picked up the win on the mound, striking out six and Lindsey Dickinson had an RBI for the Gators.
The Federal Way Eagles (1-7 overall, 0-6 SPSL North) were beaten 12-2 by Kentlake Monday afternoon and 8-2 by Tahoma on Tuesday.
Against Kentlake, Sadie Bynum tallied both runs for the Eagles and finished 2 for 2 with a pair of doubles. Bynum also had a pair of hits during the loss to Tahoma. The sophomore finished 2 for 3 with both Federal Way runs. Thea Develaar also had two hits for Federal Way.
Boys soccer
Beamer (5-1-1) remained in a three-way tie atop the SPSL South with Decatur and Puyallup with a pair of wins. The Titans beat Curtis, 4-2, on Monday and downed Graham-Kapowsin, 3-1, Wednesday night.
Against Curtis, the Titans tallied three first-half goals from Troy Peterson, Dan Tran and Michael Manolides. Curtis fought back to cut the lead to 3-2, but Austin Sweeney added an insurance goal for Beamer in the 68th minute.
Against Graham-Kapowsin, Beamer scored the last three goals of the game after falling behind 1-0. The Titans’ goals came from Kelvin Horn, Peterson and Ian Lange.
Decatur (5-1-1) also remained in first place in the SPSL South with a pair of wins. The Gators downed Emerald Ridge Monday, 1-0, and beat Spanaway Lake Wednesday, 4-0.
Against Emerald Ridge, the only goal of the game came from Jimmy Hong in the 30th minute on a pass from Ryan Barrantes. Conner Adkisson picked up the shutout in goal for the Gators.
On Wednesday, Decatur got a pair of goals from Dominique Dismuke and single goals from Josh Smith and Alex Bykovskiy. Adkisson also got the shutout against Spanaway Lake.
The Gators will take on Beamer Tuesday at Federal Way Memorial Stadium with first-place in the SPSL South on the line.
Jefferson (4-3-0) got a pair of goals from Isidro Prado-Huerta Wednesday night and held on late to beat Kentridge, 3-2. Prado-Huerta tallied two first-half goals and Austin Egerton added another one for the Raiders in the 56th minute to give TJ a commanding 3-0 lead.
But Kentridge’s Scott Geffre scored a pair of goals in the 72nd and 73rd minutes to cut the lead to just one.
Federal Way (3-3-1) gave up a late goal to Auburn Monday night and lost 2-1 to the Trojans. Cesar Benitez scored in the 76th minute to break a 1-1 tie. Federal Way’s lone goal came from Mitchell Wadleigh in the 20th minute.
The Eagles were also shut out by Tahoma on Wednesday night, 1-0. The Bears scored in the second minute of the game.
