The Davie varsity baseball team is not buried yet, but the hole got deeper against visiting Reagan on April 28.

Not long ago, the War Eagles were surprising everybody with a 6-1 run that included a pair of three-game winning streaks. But that stretch has been followed by crisis (4-3 loss at East Forsyth) after crisis (6-3 home loss to East Forsyth) after crisis (6-0 loss to Reagan).

Davie’s fourth straight setback dropped it to 9-9 overall. The War Eagles entered the week fourth in the Central Piedmont Conference standings. East has clinched first at 8-1. Reagan is 5-4, West Forsyth 5-5 and Davie 4-5. Reynolds (3-6) and Glenn (3-7) are fifth and sixth.

The offense did not show up against senior righthander Garrett Saylor, who went the distance, finished with a four-hitter and threw 61 strikes in 93 pitches.

The top of Davie’s order – Hite Merrifield, Landon Bandy and Cody Hendrix – all went 1 for 3. No. 9 man Garrett Chandler (1-3) had the other hit.

The Raiders, whose fourth straight win lifted them to 14-7 overall, didn’t exactly tear it up offensively, but they were economical with seven hits.

Two walks and a passed ball set up a two-run single in the top of the first. Reagan pushed its lead to 3-0 in the third.

Davie had one chance to make it a game, and that came in the third. Cody Smith walked, Chandler singled with one out for Davie’s first hit and Bandy singled with two outs to load the bases. A ground out ended the threat.

The other six at-bats were a collective dud.

After Carson Whisenhunt (2-3, 2.72) went five innings of five-hit ball with three runs allowed (two earned), Spencer Nifong worked a 1-2-3 sixth in his first relief appearance after making six starts.

But Reagan broke it open in the seventh. A walk and error brought up Saylor with two aboard. Saylor tormented Davie with his right arm and with his bat, launching a three-run homer in that seventh-inning at-bat and going 3 for 4.

Notes: Merrifield hit safely for the 15th time in 18 games. He has a four-game hitting streak and a team-best .396 average. … The other top averages belong to Whisenhunt (.375), Hendrix (.333), Grayson Keaton (.320) and Bandy (.307). … Davie has a three-game losing streak to Reagan. … The Raiders posted their first shutout win since the season opener.