Seward Provides Golden Ray, 5-4

Frigid temperatures, gusting winds and a touch of rain greeted Mike Seward of Antelope Valley High as he stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning Wednesday.

Seconds later, however, Seward and his teammates were walking on sunshine after the junior singled to drive in Sean Douglass from second base with the winning run in the Antelopes’ 5-4 Golden League baseball victory over Palmdale at Antelope Valley.

Antelope Valley (8-2, 2-0 in league play) remained in first place while Palmdale (11-2, 1-1) suffered its second consecutive loss.

The Antelopes led, 3-2, after five innings before Palmdale scored twice in the sixth to take the lead.

In the Antelope seventh, No. 9 batter Brandon Sadler led off with a single, was sacrificed to second and, with two out, scored to tie the game on a single by Douglass.

Douglass took second when the Falcons tried to throw out Sadler at the plate, setting the stage for Seward’s heroics.

After taking a ball, Seward cracked a line drive between first and second. Douglass slid across home, hitting the dirt only for show, before being mobbed by teammates.

Palmdale took a 1-0 lead in the fourth. Cory Briggs drew a one-out walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by J.J. Rosati.

Antelope Valley rallied to take a 3-1 lead in the fourth, using four singles, a walk and a Falcon error for three runs.

Palmdale cut its deficit to 3-2 in the fifth. Billy Niemeyer walked, moved to second on a fielder’s choice and took third on a single by Jason Gorman. Niemeyer scored on a single by Cory Briggs, the senior’s area-leading 30th run batted in this season.

Douglass, Antelope Valley’s starter, pitched four innings, allowing two hits and an earned run. He struck out five and walked three. Reliever Jeremy Holiday (4-2) picked up the victory, allowing five hits and three runs, two earned.

Palmdale starter Sean Zortman allowed five hits and three runs, all earned, in four innings. Reliever Kevin Harmon (2-1) finished the game.