Roundup: Downstate Delaware teams among top seeds in state tournament brackets

Cape Henlopen High and Sussex Academy took the top two seeds in the girls’ lacrosse bracket while Sussex Central is No. 3 in softball as the two DIAA state tournament brackets were announced on Sunday.

Five downstate schools made the 12-team girls’ lacrosse field with 10 making it among 24 squads in softball.

The softball tourney begins on Tuesday while the Henlopen Conference girls’ lacrosse teams will play on Wednesday.

Softball

The Henlopen Conference continued its strong tradition in softball even when it wasn’t at its best this spring.

Third-seeded Sussex Central, which made the state finals last season, and No. 8 Caesar Rodney both earned first-round byes.

First-round games on Tuesday start at 4 p.m. In contests involving downstate schools, No. 17 Delmar (10-7) goes to No. 16 Concord (9-8), No. 20 Milford (11-7) goes to No. 13 Laurel (11-6), No. 18 Smyrna (8-10) goes to No. 13 Indian River (13-4), No. 23 Archmere (9-9) goes to No. 10 Delmarva Christian (10-5), No. 19 Lake Forest (11-7) goes to No. 14 Conrad (13-4) and No. 22 Cape Henlopen (7-10) goes to No. 11 Wilmington Charter (11-7).

In Thursday’s second round, Sussex Central (15-3) hosts the winner of the Lake Forest-Conrad game while CR (16-2) hosts the winner of the matchup between No. 24 Brandywine and No. 9 William Penn.

The tournament continues on Saturday with games at 1 p.m. The semifinals are slated for May 25 and the finals are on May 29 at the University of Delaware.

Defending state champion Caravel (15-1) is the No. 1 seed in the tourney while Appoquinimink (16-2) is No. 2.

Girls’ lacrosse

Top-seeded Cape Henlopen will be the favorite to win the program’s 13th straight state title in girls’ lacrosse.

In Wednesday’s first round, fifth-seeded Dover (12-3) gets a rematch with Caesar Rodney (11-4) when it hosts the No. 12 Riders at 6 p.m. The Senators beat CR, 15-10, on March 30.

Also on Wednesday, No. 11 Polytech (8-7) goes to No. 6 Archmere (12-3) for a 4 p.m. matchup.

In Saturday’s quarterfinals, Cape Henlopen (14-1) hosts the winner of the Wilmington Charter-Caravel contest at 6 p.m. with No. 2 Sussex Academy (14-1) hosting the winner of the Ursuline-Wilm. Friends game at 4 p.m.

The semifinals and finals will both be played at Delaware State’s Alumni Stadium. The semifinals are on May 24 and the finals are slated for May 26.

College baseball

William & Mary 10, Delaware 5: Aidan Kane and Jordan Hutchins (Dover) each homered but it wasn’t enough as the Blue Hens were swept in the three-game CAA series.

John Weglarz finished with a pair of hits for the Blue Hens (6-14 CAA, 23-25 overall), while six players added a hit apiece. Dom Velazquez (Dover) took the loss despite allowing just two runs and striking out six in 6.1 innings of relief.

College track & field

DSU men place third: Malachi Little’s first-place showing in the 400-meter dash headlined Delaware State’s third-place team finish in the MEAC Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Norfolk State captured the team championship with 192.5 points while Howard was second with 163.5.

Little earned 10 of the Hornets’ 95.5 points with his winning time of 47.05 seconds in the 400. Little also ran the anchor leg of DSU’s second-place 4x400 meter relay team.

Julian Brown took home a silver medal in the 400-meter hurdles (52.40). DSU’s Devin Smith took second place in the 1,500-meter run (3:58.94).

Tyrell Martin also delivered a runner-up performance with a top throw of 15.25 meters in the shot put.

In the women’s meet, the Hornets’ Catherine Glenn took second in the javelin (34.54 meters) and also turned in a fourth-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles (13.78). As a team, DelState placed eighth.