Delaware
Maryland baseball snaps 5-game losing streak, beats Delaware, 10-2
Maryland baseball trailed Delaware 1-0 after three innings. But a four-run fourth inning snatched the lead and shifted the momentum for good.
The Terps capitalized on two errors in the inning, as all four runs crossed home plate unearned. They scored seven unanswered runs en route to a 10-2 victory in Newark, Delaware, Wednesday.
The Blue Hens (17-14, 5-4 Coastal Athletic Association) struck first in the bottom of the third inning. After Andrew Amato singled to center field, he came around to score on an RBI double to left field by Evan Bouldin.
Maryland (15-19, 3-9 Big Ten) responded in the top of the fourth inning. After a single and an error put two runners on, Liam Willson struck a two-run single to left field to take the lead. Elijah Lambros followed with a triple to right field, driving in another run before scoring on a throwing error.
The Terps tacked on six more insurance in the eighth inning. Jacob Orr and Aden Hill reached base to lead off the frame, then an error by Delaware pitcher Dom Velazquez allowed Orr to score. Chris Hacopian followed with a two-run single through the right side, stretching the Terps’ lead to 7-1.
In the ninth inning, Maryland’s bats retained its fire. Alex Calarco and Brayden Martin drew walks against reliever Christian Colmery, and with two outs, Willson delivered again with an RBI single through the right side. Lambros followed with a two-run double down the left side, pushing Maryland’s lead to 10-1.
Delaware managed a rally run in the bottom of the ninth inning, as Vince Libretto launched a solo home run to left-center field off Ryan Van Buren. But one run barely cut into the sizable lead.
Van Buren was otherwise dominant, though, retiring the other five batters he faced. In fact, all of Maryland’s bullpen — Andrew Koshy, Brayden Ryan and Van Buren — combined for a strong defensive performances.
Ryan earned the win, allowing one earned run over four innings in his third start of the season, while striking out five batters. Koshy was impressive in relief, striking out five batters in two hitless frames, and Van Buren closed out the game with three solid innings, earning a save. The trio combined to strike out 12 batters and walk five, while limiting Delaware to just six hits.
The Terps struggled to break through against Delaware starter Tim Hartman, who pitched three shutout innings. But once Hartman exited, Maryland’s offense came to life, partially duo to the Blue Hens’ miscues.
At the plate, Maryland was led by Chris Hacopian — who went 3-of-5 with two RBIs — and Lambros — who added a double, triple and four RBIs. Willson’s pair of hits also drove in three runners.
Three things to know
1. Revenge game. Maryland got its payback after losing to Delaware, 13-10, in February. This time, the Terps’ cleaner defense, sharper pitching and late-inning execution made all the difference.
2. Bullpen domination. The Terps’ bullpen was lights out Wednesday. Koshy and Van Buren combined for seven strikeouts over five innings, allowing just one run.
3. Defensive mishaps. Delaware’s defensive errors played a significant role in Maryland’s win. A throwing error in the fourth inning allowed Lambros to score, and another error in the eighth inning gave the Terps an additional run, helping to extend their lead. Seven of Maryland’s runs were unearned.
Here are some ways you can save on gas
Here are some ways you can save on gas. 12/26/25
After brief respite from increasing gas prices, the trend has reversed − and gas prices rose nearly 30 cents in a single week in Delaware.
Delaware’s 29-cent increase week over week is even greater than the national increase, AAA said. The national average was 27 cents higher on April 30 than April 23.
Gas prices are the highest they’ve been in four years, since late July 2022, AAA said.
Here’s this week’s gas price breakdown as we head into the weekend.
DE, PA, NJ, MD national gas price averages
- National average: $4.30 on April 30. This is 27 cents higher than last week and $1.12 higher than a year ago.
- Delaware average: $4.16 on April 30. This is 29 cents higher than last week and $1.17 higher than one year ago.
- Pennsylvania average: $4.11 on April 30. This is 22 cents higher than last week and 97 cents higher than a year ago.
- Southern New Jersey average: $4.25 on April 30. This is 38 cents higher than last week and $1.28 higher than a year ago.
- Maryland average: $4.21 on April 30. This is 23 cents higher and $1.12 higher than a year ago.
Why are gas prices so high?
Once again, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is playing an outsized role in the increase, AAA said.
But with summer on the horizon, gas is also more in demand.
“As motorists grapple with pain at the pump due to rising crude oil prices, increased seasonal demand and the switchover to more expensive summer blended gasoline are seasonal factors pushing gas prices higher this time of year,” said Jana Tidwell, AAA spokesperson.
Got a story tip or idea? Send to Isabel Hughes at ihughes@delawareonline.com.
Why is Delaware known as ‘The First State’?
Delaware is known as ‘The First State,’ Here’s why.
Given its historical importance, It is fitting the First Sate — Delaware — will play an integral role in celebrating America’s 250th birthday.
Delaware 250, the organization overseeing Delaware’s celebration of America’s semiquincentennial, and the federal America250 organization set up a series of celebratory events in and around Delaware for the rest of 2026.f
Whether you’re a history buff or want to check out the Fourth of July fireworks show, there’s no shortage of America250 events in the First State to out. Here are a few.
Fireworks in Dover, historical reenactments in Bear highlight DE’s 250 celebration
Delaware 250 arranged over 50 America250 celebrations which range from storytelling to colonial cocktail classes.
Here are a few can’t-miss America250 events to check out in Delaware:
- Dover During the Revolution: 10:30 a.m. Saturday May 2; Delaware Public Archives, Dover
- Fireside chat with A Founding Mother authors Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie, 5 p.m. Saturday May 3; Lewes Public Library, Lewes
- In Common Cause: Delaware’s Homefront in the Revolutionary War, 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 6; Georgetown Public Library, Georgetown
- Separation Day 2026 Celebration: 6 p.m. Friday, June 12; New Castle battery Park, New Castle
Delaware will host several fireworks displays to celebrate America’s 250th birthday:
- Dover Days Fireworks 93rd Anniversary: 5 p.m. Friday, May 1; The Green, Dover
- USA 250th Anniversary fireworks show: at dusk on Saturday, May 30; Legislative Mall, Dover
- Fourth of July fireworks: 6 p.m. Saturday, July 4; University of Delaware Athletic Complex, Newark
Freedom 250 events in, around Delaware
Delawareans are within a one-tank trip distance of enjoying several Freedom 250 Semiquincentennial events in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Freedom 250 suggests 16 ways you can celebrate America’s 250th birthday, and here are a few of the best ones:
- Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise and Thanksgiving: 8 a.m. Sunday, May 17; National Mall, Washington, DC
- Salute To America 250 Celebration and Fireworks: at dusk on Saturday, July 4; National Mall, Washington, DC
- IndyCar Washington D.C. Street Race: 10 a.m. Sunday, August 23; Washington, DC
Is ‘America250’ and ‘Freedom 250’ the same thing?
America250 is the national, nonpartisan effort to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Congress created the Semiquincentennial Commission in 2016 to plan the celebrations, and the America250 organization is now working with states, museums, local groups and nonprofits on a slate of events meant to help Americans reflect on the nation’s past, celebrate its present and plan for the future.
Freedom 250 is a White House-led initiative to spark interest and create officially sanctioned events related to America’s Semisesquicentennial celebration.
Damon C. Williams is a Philadelphia-based journalist reporting on trending, breaking and service-related topics across the Mid-Atlantic region for the USA Today Network.
3-minute read
What’s still left to do after state legislature spring recess ends
Lawmakers will be out of the office come March 31. What awaits them when they get back?
Delaware looks prosperous on paper. Our GDP per capita ranks near the top nationally. But from 2000 to 2024, Delaware’s real GDP per capita grew just 1% — dead last in America. The national average was 37%. North Dakota grew 104%. Virginia grew 33%. North Carolina grew 26%.
That gap is the story. Delaware has been living off an economy it inherited while failing to build the workforce it needs for the future.
This is not just a school problem. It is an economic problem, a taxpayer problem and a leadership problem.
Delaware’s 2024 labor-force participation rate was 59.6%, the lowest since recordkeeping began in 1976. The state says it has more open jobs than jobseekers. In a state where government is the largest employer, headline numbers can disguise a weaker private-sector engine. In plain English: Delaware does not have enough workers with the skills employers need.
Delaware is failing our students
That failure starts early.
Only 26% of Delaware fourth graders read proficiently. As many as 45% score below basic. Eighth-grade reading scores hit a 27-year low in 2024. Only 34% of students in grades 3 through 8 are proficient in math.
When children do not learn to read, the bill does not disappear — it compounds. Delaware now has 54,000 prime-age adults who have left the labor force. State research estimates that costs us roughly $450 million a year in lost earnings, productivity and tax revenue. Every Delawarean pays twice: once when schools under-deliver, again when the consequences show up in corrections, homelessness, emergency healthcare, thinner tax base — and the dignity of a job.
Delaware spends about $20,577 per public school student — more than Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Let us stop pretending this is mainly a funding problem. It is a performance problem. Performance problems do not get fixed by writing larger checks to systems that are not held accountable.
To his credit, Gov. Matt Meyer has acknowledged the crisis. He declared a literacy emergency, launched the Delaware Early Literacy Plan, and backed new reading funding. Those are real steps. But Delaware has seen plans before, and the state’s own education leadership concedes that scores remain essentially flat. A one-point bump is not a turnaround. It is a rounding error.
Delaware does not lack plans. It lacks consequences.
Mississippi and Louisiana have shown the country what serious reform looks like. Mississippi climbed from 49th in fourth-grade reading in 2013 to the top 10 by 2024 — while spending less per student than Delaware. Louisiana went from last in 2019 to 16th in five years, and is the only state to fully recover from pandemic learning loss and surpass pre-pandemic scores. They aligned teacher training to the science of reading, adopted strong instructional materials, built transparent accountability and stopped pretending it was compassion to promote children who could not read.
The lesson is not about better messaging. It is about better systems, better measurement, the political will to keep going when resistance starts and more engaged business leaders.
Delaware’s stated goal is to raise third-grade reading proficiency from 38% to 53% by 2028. Fine. Who owns that number? Who is responsible for hitting it? What happens if they miss?
A target without a consequence is not accountability. It is public relations.
Will Delaware leaders commit to helping our children?
So here is a direct question for every governor, every legislator and every elected official whose name appears on a ballot: Will you stake your career on this? Will you commit, publicly and on the record, to being judged by whether Delaware’s children are measurably better off in eight years?
If that sounds like too much, consider what eight years means for a child. A third grader today who cannot read on grade level will be entering eleventh grade in 2033 — carrying the same deficit, the same narrowed future the data already predicts. Eight years is not an abstraction. It is the entire arc of a young person’s formative education.
Real accountability means public goals, quarterly reporting, named decision-makers and consequences for failure. It means a governor and legislature willing to say: here is the number, here is who owns it, here is how we will report it, here is what happens if we fail.
Mississippi was the poorest state in America. It decided that was not an excuse. Delaware is wealthier, smaller and easier to govern. We have even less excuse.
The excuses are exhausted. Delaware deserves better.
Ben duPont is a longtime Delawarean, a venture capitalist and a philanthropist. State Sen. Darius Brown represents the Second Senate District, which includes New Castle, Wilmington and Edgemoor.
-
New Hampshire5 minutes agoTheatre Productions | End Of Life Options | Storytimes | Open Studio: The Londonderry NH Patch Weekender
-
New Jersey11 minutes agoMay Day protests in Newark, Jersey City bring out support for causes
-
New Mexico16 minutes agoMeta threatens to pull Facebook and Instagram from New Mexico over child safety trial requirements
-
North Carolina23 minutes agoGroundhog tests positive for rabies in Rutherford County
-
North Dakota28 minutes agoCelebration of life held for North Dakota lawmaker killed in Brooklyn Park plane crash
-
Ohio35 minutes agoA talk with incoming Ohio FFA State Officer Sydney Beiting – Ohio Ag Net | Ohio’s Country Journal
-
Oklahoma41 minutes agoOklahoma EMT killed in Goodwill house fire
-
Oregon47 minutes agoPain at the pump: Gas prices jump nearly 20 cents in Oregon & Washington since last week