Johnson’s walk-off homer leads Cape to extra-inning win
It was a sun-filled Saturday afternoon home opener for the Cape Henlopen Vikings baseball team. With the smell of hot dogs in the air, the Vikings took the 4-3 win against Middletown April 6, as junior Luke Johnson delivered with a walk-off homer in the bottom of the eighth inning.
It was his second dinger of the game, as Johnson blasted one over the left-field fence in the fifth inning. It was the first time he hit two homers in a game.
“I made an error on a throw in the sixth inning and they scored two runs,” said Johnson. “I was just trying to keep my head up. Sean [Clendaniel] had our back throwing strikes. When I came up in the eighth, I was just thinking about getting a hit and getting on and being a base runner since I was leading off. He threw a fastball and I got all of it.”
The Vikings started the action on the diamond in the bottom of the first inning, when Robert Baxley scored the first run for Cape. He went 2-for-3 on the day.
Luke Smailer and Mason Fluharty went 1-for-3 in the game. Timmy Vitella had a hit and an RBI.
Fluharty went six solid innings on the mound and allowed just one earned run, while striking out 12 batters.
In the bottom of the seventh, Clendaniel entered the game, completed two scoreless innings and picked up the victory, striking out three.
“The other team got me fired up,” Clendaniel said. “They were trying to get in my head, but I just tried to keep my focus and do my job. When they got that one guy on, it got me fired up to get the out. My curveball was really working today. I loved it.”
“I thought it was a great win,” said first-base coach Dave Vitella. “I thought the boys did a great a job staying composed, and pulling it off in the eighth inning.”
“Mason started out for us and didn’t have his best stuff,” said Cape head coach Ben Evick. “But even when he doesn’t have his best stuff, he’s still going to be really effective. He only gave up one earned run. That’s a well-coached team and Sean [Clendaniel] came in in a tough situation and he just fills the zone with strikes, and he’s got confidence, which goes a long way. Luke [Johnson] saved us today having two home runs. We had opportunities to score a couple of times and we didn’t get a big hit when we needed it. But that happens. We played our game.”
