By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman's baseball team is in the position it wants to be heading into Class 5A postseason, putting together a solid 17-3 campaign and earning the right to host a Class 5A regional tournament with a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the East.
Now the aim for Trent Oliva's Vikings, who closed out their regular season Tuesday with a 10-2 Centennial League win at Hayden, is to step up their game another notch or two for their postseason run.
Regional sites will be determined on Saturday, with regional tournaments contested next week. Seaman has assured itself of at least the No. 2 seed and is still in the running for the top East seed depending on the outcome of Blue Valley Southwest's game at Lawrence Thursday. Southwest is 16-3 after a 3-1 win over Blue Valley West Tuesday.
"There's some things out there we can clean up and get better at,'' Oliva said. "We had some base-running errors today, we weren't clean fielding the ball and we had some walks here and there, and that's going to happen, but we obviously have a lot of things we can clean up and we're looking to keep getting better each day.''
Seaman baseball coach Trent Oliva talks to his team Tuesday after the Vikings wrapped up a 17-3 regular season with a 10-2 Centennial League win at Hayden. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Seaman fell behind 1-0 in the bottom of the first, but took the lead for good with three runs in the top of the second.
Hayden (8-12) cut its deficit to 3-2 with a run in the bottom of the third, but Seaman pulled away with four runs in the fourth and added a run in the sixth and two in the seventh.
Seaman sophomore Bryson Vawter went 3 for 3 with a pair of doubles while senior Andrew Kirmer went 2 for 4 with three runs batted in and senior Cole Askew blasted a home run.
Askew has been a force at the plate for the Vikings all spring, starting the day with a team-high .522 batting average, but Tuesday's round-tripper was a rarity.
"It was my first of the year and I think that's the second of my high school career, so I haven't been getting very many,'' Askew said. "It felt good.''
Seaman used four pitchers in the game, with senior Kevin Mannell getting the start before senior Brady Stuewe came on in the fourth and Vawter in the fifth before junior Maclane Finley pitched the seventh. Stuewe was credited with the win.
"I feel like we're in a great position,'' Askew said. "Our arms are throwing pretty well and if we can hit the baseball and put up some runs I think we'll be fine.''
Hayden senior Jake Gales had two of the Wildcats' five hits and also knocked in a run.
Hayden senior starter Skyler Specht, the first of four pitchers used by the Wildcats, took the loss.
SEAMAN 10, HAYDEN 2
Seaman (17-3) 030 401 2 -- 10 10 3
Hayden (8-12) 101 000 0 -- 2 5 7
Mannell, Stuewe (4), Vawter (5), Finley (7) and Kirmer, Spencer. Specht, Bullock (5), Wurtz (7), Becker (7) and Rose. W -- Stuewe. L -- Specht. 2B -- Seaman: Vawter 2. HR -- Seaman: Askew.
