Seahawks pound out win over Mt. Lebanon


Published Saturday, March 20, 2010
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Desmond Bush said he could feel the pressure mounting to make something happen, to find any way possible to bring home a run.

And for that, he really had no one to blame but himself. After all, one pitch earlier, he whiffed on a squeeze bunt attempt on an outside pitch, resulting in Hilton Head High teammate Jack Tillman running into an out, the second of the fifth inning in a tie game.

But Bush quickly found the best way to relieve that pressure -- hit his way out of it.

Hilton Head High's first baseman ripped a double to the right-field fence on the next pitch, scoring Bruce Leitner from second to give the Seahawks their first lead of the game, which they turned into an 11-4 win against Mt. Lebanon (Pa.) on Friday night.

"Deep breath. Real deep breath when I got to second," Bush said. "... I just felt like I had to make up for (the bunt). So when I got the fastball, I just took it the other way."

He completed the Seahawks' second comeback in as many nights against the Blue Devils (0-2). And he arguably helped his teammates break out of a season-long slump at the plate in the process.

"We know he's capable of doing that, and he knows he's capable of doing that, but he hasn't been doing it lately," Seahawks coach Chris Wells said. "But right there, he picked himself up and drove one.

"We won't be asking him to squeeze any time soon as long as he can keep hitting the ball like that."

Alan Dellers followed Bush's double with a double of his own -- the second of his three hits in the game -- off Mt. Lebanon reliever Marc Rizzo to score Bush as part of a five-run fifth.

The Seahawks tacked on five more runs in the sixth for the 11-4 final.

Unlike Bush, Charlie Wilkins can expect to see plenty of the bunt sign. The Seahawks' leadoff hitter fueled each rally with perfectly-placed bunts down the first-base line -- both of which went for hits.

In all, eight of the nine Seahawk hitters reached base safely as part of the two-inning rally for Hilton Head High (5-2).

"It really got contagious," Bush said. "Monkey see, monkey do. When you see one guy get a hit, you want to follow it up and keep it going. You don't want to be the guy that kills it."

Nic Levy played his part in keeping the momentum on Hilton Head High's side with his work on the mound. Pitching in relief of starter Sean Bartlett, who gave up four runs in four innings, Levy struck out the side in the top of the sixth to preserve the Seahawks' lead.

After a shaky fifth inning that included a walk and a wild pitch, Levy pitched from the stretch in the sixth and seventh -- a move that clearly worked, as he struck out five of the eight hitters he faced in the two innings. He finished the night with six strikeouts in three hitless innings to pick up the win.

"I was really energized when we got the lead," Levy said. "It let some pressure off me a little bit. ... I just let them hit it. If we're ahead by that many, you have to let the defense make plays."

Mt. Lebanon 130 000 0 -- 4 7 4

Hilton Head High 000 155 X -- 11 10 1

WP: Nic Levy (1-0) 3 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 6 K.

LP: Marc Rizzo (0-1) 1 IP, 5 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB.

Hitters: Mt. Lebanon -- Jack Faett 1 for 3, HR, Pete Slavonic 2 for 3, R; Hilton Head High -- Desmond Bush 2 for 3, BB, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, Alan Dellers 3 for 4, 2B, RBI, Charlie Wilkins 2 for 3, HBP, 2 R, RBI.

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