AUBURN — Neither the Mt. Ararat nor the Edward Little high school baseball teams lit up the scoreboard in their first two games of the 2013 season.
Monday’s KVAC matchup between the Red Eddies and Eagles at Pettingill Park saw both teams establish season highs in runs scored and hits.
Mt. Ararat did a little bit more on both fronts, jumping out to a 5-1 lead through two innings and holding on for a 7-4 victory.
The win gives the Eagles a 2-1 early-season mark, while the Red Eddies dropped to 0-3 and visit Brunswick on Friday. Mt. Ararat plays host to Erskine Academy on Wednesday.
“There were a lot of opportunities and I feel that we are really close,” EL coach Scott Annear said. “We need more practice and more intensity. Those are two things that are fixable because this is a hard-working group. It is just a matter of getting hits at the right time.”
The Eagles broke out of their early-season hitting slump by jumping on EL starter Brandon Dubuc. Sam Coombs and Ryan Lathrop singled with one out, and Coombs scored when Sam Ashouwak’s bloop single dropped in front of diving Red Eddies center fielder Brandon Knapp for a 1-0 lead. A passed ball allowed Lathrop to scamper home for a 2-0 Mt. Ararat lead.
EL cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the first. Mike Hammond reached on an error, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a ground out by Lew Jensen.
Mt. Ararat broke things open in the second, plating three runs for a 5-1 edge. Reilly Kons turned on a Dubuc pitch and doubled off the left-field fence. A sacrifice bunt by Gabe Pelletier moved Kons up 90 feet, and after a walk to Jake Liedman and a throwing error scored Kons, Brandon Morrell launched a double off the left-field fence to make for a 4-1 Eagles lead. Another EL error allowed Morrell to score.
“It was a good feeling to have five runs up early, and gave us some confidence,” said Mt. Ararat pitcher Lathrop. “I relied on my defense and kept the ball on the ground.”
“The last game Ryan pitched (a 4-1 loss to Brewer), we were behind right at the beginning, where today we jumped out and it allowed us to relax,” said Mt. Ararat coach Bob Neron. “Ryan pitched well again, and showed why he is our number one. If we can just put the ball in play and keep the strikeouts down, we can compete.”
Sean Ford relieved Dubuc to begin the third inning and kept the Eagles hitless over the next three innings to give the Red Eddies a chance. Ford pitched three scoreless innings on five strikeouts and four walks.
“Sean did a great job and kept us in the ball game,” Annear said. “A couple hits here and there, and we are right in the game. It is still a part of the season that we don’t want kids throwing more than they need to, and Sean gutted it out and got us through in this cold weather.”
EL made it a bit closer in the third, as Hammond (single), John Simpson (walk), Jensen (RBI single) and Nate Pushard (RBI single) reached in succession to bring the Red Eddies to 5-3.
EL threatened in the fourth and fifth innings, putting two base runners on with no outs. But, Lathrop pitched out of trouble in both frames, finishing with four strikeouts, two walks and eight hits allowed in a complete-game effort.
Mt. Ararat tacked on two runs in the seventh, with Ellison Etnier and Pelletier each picking up an RBI against EL reliever Pushard (two innings pitched, three hits, two strikeouts), and the Red Eddies closed the scoring in the home half of the seventh when Brian Crane’s ground ball hit the first base bag and bounded into right field to score Simpson.
“The runs in the top of the seventh were big, and it picked us up, and we turned a big double play in the seventh,” said Lathrop.
“Hopefully we can continue to get good pitching, which helps us to stay in games,” added Neron. “Our defense is OK, but our pitching is right up there with anybody.”
Jensen and Pushard led the EL offense with two hits each, while Hammond scored a pair of runs in the loss.
Griffin Stockford paced Mt. Ararat with a 2-for-4 performance, while Lathrop scored two runs and reached base four times.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
