What a difference a year makes for the Decatur High School baseball team. Rewind to the 2012 season, the Gators finished just 3-12 during the South Puget Sound League 3A Division.
And all three of those wins came against the Lakes Lancers, who were winless on the year.
This season, the Gators sit atop the SPSL 3A with an impressive 6-1 record with basically the same team. Decatur’s lone league loss came to the No. 1-ranked Auburn Mountainview Lions in extra innings. The Gators are 9-3 after losing their first two games of the season. Since then, Decatur has won nine of 10 games.
“We are playing well,” said second-year head coach Korey Sites. “A lot better than last year.”
A big reason for the turnaround, is the Gators’ large first baseman, Jim Sullivan. The 6-foot-3, 235-pounder missed the entire regular season last year after tearing the meniscus in his knee during a summer baseball game in 2011. It happened when he was sliding into second base.
Originally, Sullivan attempted to play through the injury during tryouts for the Gators, but the knee wouldn’t hold up, forcing him to the dugout.
But Sullivan’s knee healed enough during the course of the season, that he was able to come back for the playoffs, which five of the six SPSL 3A teams qualified for.
“It held up strong,” said Sullivan. “When I came back, it felt kind of different. I was kind of cautious and I didn’t want to do something so hard that I would tear it.”
It was during the 2012 postseason that really set the stage for this year’s Gator baseball team. Sullivan and Decatur went on an impressive three-game winning streak to finish just one game short of qualifying for the Class 3A state tournament.
During that streak, Sullivan made a big difference for Decatur. In his three games, the first baseman hit .429 with two RBIs and a home run.
It was that late-season push that offered a lot of optimism entering this year. Sites essentially returned his entire roster and now the players knew what it took to win ballgames.
“Going from winning three games in league and coming back and playing so well, helped us to know that we can compete with the better teams in the league,” Sullivan said.
This year, Sullivan is hitting an impressive .421 with 12 runs, 16 hits, five doubles, one home run and 16 RBIs in just 12 games.
“He is really our leader and helps out our team tremendously,” Sites said. “He has been huge for us.”
But Sullivan is far from the only reason the Gators are in contention for their first-ever SPSL 3A baseball title. Far from it.
“Everyone’s head is in the game and everyone is doing their best,” Sullivan said.
Senior center fielder Derik Bontempo is putting together a most valuable player-type season for the Gators. In just 12 games this year, Bontempo already has 22 RBIs and four home runs. The right-hander is hitting a robust .588 with 20 hits, including three doubles and three triples, and is slugging an amazing 1.206.
Kyle Robbins is also putting up impressive early-season numbers. The outfielder is hitting .414 with two home runs, a double and 14 RBIs.
Junior Chris Carns is hitting .333 and has scored 16 runs, with two home runs and 14 RBIs and sophomore Isaiah Hatch is hitting .409 with 14 runs, four doubles and 11 RBIs.
The Gators’ pitching staff has also been impressive during the early season. The staff, led by junior Janson Junk, have a team earned-run average of just 2.43 with three complete games and opponents are hitting .192 during the season.
Junk is 2-0 on the year with a 2.03 ERA, Chris Grimstad is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and Carns is 3-0 with a 2.53 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 19 innings.
“They all return from last year and all that experience on the mound has been invaluable for us,” Sites said.
