Sabath, Dock Mennonite shut out Devon Prep for District 1-2A title

PLYMOUTH >> Daniel Sabath was all smiles.

And why not?

It was his four-hit shutout that carried Dock Mennonite to its third straight District 1 championship in baseball Friday, as the Pioneers slipped past Devon Prep in the Class 2A final, 2-0, to claim the trophy.

Dock got a run-scoring wild pitch in the second inning and Nolan Bolton’s sacrifice fly in the fifth to give the top seeds the district championship hat trick.

“It feels great,” Sabath said of the title clincher.”This is something we’ve waited for all year, and now we have another district championship.

“This is my senior year, so right now I’m just looking to go as far as I can,”

Dock got a gift run n the second inning after Andrew Walters lead off with a single, moved to second when Justin Burkholder reached on an error and took third on a sacrifice bunt by Ryan Nichols.

Devon starter Nick Rymarowicz uncorked a wild pitch, and the Pioneers got the lead.

Meanwhile, Sabath pitched out of what little trouble he got into, such as in the Devon fifth when the Tide loaded the bases, only to see Sabath strike out both Luke Piontek and Justin Chambers.

“I just tried to stay aggressive the whole game,” the pitcher said. “I just wanted them to put the ball in play. I have full faith in our defense. I think they won us the game today.”

“We have to be more disciplined there,” said Prep head coach Mark Aquilante. “We had our Nos. three and four hitters up, and they both chased high fastballs.”

Meanwhile, Dock cashed on a chance of its own in the home fifth when Brian Miller singled, took second when Daniel Keller was hit by a pitch, third when Sam Gwiazdzinski bunted both runners up and scored on Bolton’s fly ball to left.

“We took advantage of the situations we got,” said Dock head coach Ed Melendez. “We got the runs we needed and Daniel took care of the rest on the mound.

Chasing two, the Tide was unable to challenge Sabath over the final frames, and Dock players were celebrating three years worth of championships.

“We’re hitting the ball well right now and our defense has been playing very well,” Melendez said. “We’ll get a week off and then see who we’ll meet in the first round of states.

“This has been a good year for us, and hopefully we’ll be ready for our first (state playoff) opponent.”

Dock Mennonite 2, Devon Prep 0
Devon Prep        000 000 0 – 0
Dock Mennonite              010 010 x – 2
WP: Daniel Sabath.
LP: Nick Rymarowicz.