MONMOUTH — The old cliche that says it’s not how you start but how you finish doesn’t apply to the Dirigo Cougars.
The defending Class C champions will attest to the importance of the second half of that statement, but they also know it’s not greedy to try to get off on the right foot, too.
Dirigo jumped out to a 5-0 lead and kept pouring it on, scoring in every inning of a 12-4 victory over Monmouth on Friday. It was the Cougars’ seventh win a row heading into the final week of the regular season.
Brett Whittemore led the Cougars’ 10-hit attack with two hits and three runs driven in while Chad Snowman drove in a pair. Tyler Frost and Kaine Hutchins also collected two hits apiece. Leadoff hitter T.J. Frost reached base three times and scored all three times.
“We’ve kind of woken up over the past few games,” said Whittemore, whose team is averaging 10.5 runs per game during the winning streak. “We knew we had some big games so it was time to pick it up a little bit. We hadn’t been starting off very well, but these past two games, we’ve been getting on base and getting runs right off.”
T.J. Frost led the game off with a single, moved to second on Hunter Ross’s bunt and scored on Tyler Frost’s two-out single as the Cougars took a 1-0 lead and never looked back.
“If I get on, especially to start the game, with our lineup the way it is, I feel like I have a good chance of scoring,” T.J. Frost said. “If I get on base, it kind of sets the tempo.”
The Cougars (11-2) upped the tempo with four more in the second. With the bases loaded and two out, Ross hit a grounder in the hole between first and second. Monmouth’s second baseman ranged far to his left to grab it, but had to rush his throw to try to get the speedy Ross at first and it ended up in the Mustangs’ dugout, plating two. Snowman followed with a two-run single and a 5-0 lead.
Monmouth (8-4) loaded the bases with nobody out against Dirigo starter Hutchins in the bottom of the second, but the Cougars turned a 4-6-3 double play to limit the Mustangs to one run.
The Mustangs loaded the bases again in the fourth but only got one run courtesy of a Nate Gagne walk. They left nine men on base for the game.
“We weren’t ready to play,” Monmouth coach Eric Palleschi said. “We weren’t aggressive at the plate. We weren’t aggressive in the field.”
Whittemore’s two-run single increased the lead to 7-1 in the third. Ross had an RBI double, Whittemore a sacrifice fly and Hutchins an RBI single, and three more Monmouth errors helped the Cougars keep the pressure on.
“We don’t really have a weakness in our lineup, top to bottom,” Whittemore said.
“(Getting off to a good start) is something that we really struggled with early on. The whole team, coaching staff included, was getting frustrated with it,” Dirigo coach Ryan Palmer said. “But we had a coaches meeting and we just said, ‘Stay calm. As long as we’re playing our best ball down the stretch, that’s all that matters.’ And we have turned it around and we’re playing better baseball.”
Brandon Goff led the Mustangs with two hits, and his leadoff single in the fifth chased Hutchins. Snowman came on in relief and surrendered a two-run single to Devin West, but kept Monmouth from closing the gap further.
“Kaine’s been struggling with a tired arm. I thought he was strong early on,” Palmer said. “My pitchers have a tendency to not let me know when they’re getting tired or sore, so we’ve definitely got to work on that.”
The offense will give them more time to do that. Seven different Cougars got hits Friday, and all nine starters and one pinch hitter reached base.
“Our biggest issue is the top of the order would hit but the bottom will slack off, and then the bottom of the lineup will start something and the top of the order won’t (keep it going),” T.J. Frost said. “When we put it together, we’re pretty dangerous.”
Monmouth’s Kyle Fletcher was involved in a collision at first base in the third inning and left the game under his own power. He did not return.
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