BERLIN- Stephen Decatur’s varsity baseball team won its first outright Bayside Conference championship ever on Tuesday, pulling away from Colonel Richardson, 5-2, after a tight game at Perdue Stadium.

The Seahawks clinched the Bayside South title last week, earning a trip to the conference championship game at Perdue Stadium on Tuesday against Colonel Richardson. The Seahawks got a taste of playing on the big stage where the Shorebirds play last Saturday with a win over Indian River in the annual mini-tournament between Maryland and Delaware schools in the region. Decatur followed that up with an odd double-header sweep on Monday with wins over Crisfield and Washington, both on the road and at different venues.

The late surge set the stage for Tuesday’s Bayside Conference championship game against the North-winning Colonels. The Seahawks got on the board first when Jake Hickman doubled and later came around to score to give Decatur a 1-0 lead. Colonel Richardson answered in the bottom of the second to tie the game at 1-1. In the top of the third, Justin Meekins tripled in a run to put the Seahawks on top again at 2-1. Meekins reached base four times in the game with two hits including the RBI triple to go along with two walks.

Again, Colonel Richardson came back to tie the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth. However, Decatur broke it open with three runs in the top of the sixth. After the Seahawks loaded the bases, Andrew Borradaile hit a bases-clearing double to put Decatur ahead for good with a 5-2 lead. Grant Donohue, who went the distance for the Seahawks, closed out the Colonels the rest of the way.

Tuesday’s big win was the first outright Bayside Conference championship ever for the Seahawks. In 2009, Decatur won the Bayside South and was scheduled to play Colonel Richardson in the title game, but the game was rained out and the two teams shared the conference championship that year.

With the win on Tuesday, the Seahawks improved to 18-1 on the season, their only loss coming to Parkside, 5-0, way back on April 1. Since then, the Seahawks have reeled off 15 straight, culminating with the conference championship on Tuesday. However, there is still much work to be done.

Decatur earned the top-seed in the state 3A-South Section 1 when the brackets were released this week and a first-round bye. The Seahawks will face the winner of the opening round game between Bennett and Northern at home on Monday. Huntingtown is the number-two seed and looms on the other side the bracket if the Seahawks advance.