AUBURN — Basketball camps, family commitments, sickness. Those were three of the reasons that only 19 players suited up when Smith-Tobey Post 21 took on William J. Rogers Post 153 at Pettingill Park on Saturday for an American Legion Zone III baseball doubleheader.
Nate Pushard and Mike Hammond each pitched a complete game as Rogers swept the double dip, winning 7-0 in the opener and 4-2 in the nightcap.
“It is tough to play with nine, and a basketball camp is going on, which kind of hurt us, and they had the same thing going on too,” said Smith-Tobey (1-7) assistant coach Rick Davis, himself filling in for head coach Garrett Olson. “We encourage the kids to play three sports. It keeps them in shape, and how do you say no to a kid who wants to do a summer camp? They are all good kids.”
“There is nothing you can do about it. You just have to stick with it and do your best,” said Hammond, who struck out 10 and tossed a three-hitter for the mound win as Rogers Post improved to 3-4 heading into a contest with Tri-Town on Tuesday. “It takes a team effort to do well, and the defense behind me was good. We are taking it that we are 0-0, pretending those first four or five games were our preseason.”
The first game was all about Pushard. Having pitched an inning in the high school baseball All-Star game at Bangor on Friday, the righty was dominant after escaping a two-on, one-out situation in the first. He struck out 11, including six consecutive batters from the end of the first to the third inning.
Only Smith-Tobey’s Mike Doughty figured out Pushard, going 2-for-3.
“It was tough to get up, having slept just four or five hours, but I had a good change-up going and my fastball was good,” said Pushard. “I didn’t want to throw my fastball that much, but I was able to get into a good mix.”
Rogers Post jumped ahead in the first. Hammond walked against Smith-Tobey starter Daren Wood, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Brandon Varney.
A pair of errors cost the visitors in the second. Evan Raymond and Corey Henderson scored for a 3-0 lead.
“We have guys playing positions that they normally don’t play, which is tough,” said Davis, who watched his team struggle to swing the bat against Pushard, with five called third strikes. “Guys have to swing the bat, and he is a good pitcher with a split-fingered fastball. The kids just don’t see that too often.”
Wood pitched well over his four innings, allowing three hits and one walk with four strikeouts.
Reliever Dakota Jacobs struggled with his control, walking four in his two frames as Rogers Post scored two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. Varney picked up his second RBI on a suicide squeeze bunt in the fifth, and Cam Cormier, the only sub for both teams, entered the game and delivered a two-run double to the fence in left field in the sixth to complete the scoring.
Smith-Tobey dented the scoreboard in the second frame of Game 2 for a 1-0 lead thanks to a Hammond balk that plated Jacobs.
Rogers answered against Smith-Tobey lefty Jacob Cressey, with Henderson picking up an RBI as his single scored Brandon Knapp. The hosts grabbed a 2-1 lead in the third when Alex Brushwein touched home on a double-play grounder by Pushard.
A double steal by Smith-Tobey’s Ethan Brewer (home) and Wood (second) tied the game in the fifth.
Cressey, who pitched in and out of trouble through the first four frames, ran into more trouble in the bottom of the fifth. Varney tripled with one out and scored on a single by Pushard to give Rogers Post a 3-2 lead. Mickey Lawrence and Raymond also singled in the inning, with Raymond’s RBI hit making it 4-2.
“My curveball was working pretty well, and the defense was pretty good behind me,” said Cressey, who allowed 11 hits and two walks in five innings. “It was difficult to just get into it. It is tough when you don’t know where you’re going to play, or even if you’re going to play because of the number of players you have.”
Hammond set the final six Smith-Tobey hitters down. Combined with Pushard, the duo combined on 21 strikeouts, six hits and three walks in the sweep.
“We need to keep our pitching up, and if we can push a couple runs in, we will be do well,” said Hammond, who led Rogers Post at the plate in the second game with a 3-for-4 performance.
Josh McDougal and Trevor Drouin each singled, while Brewer doubled in the nightcap for Smith-Tobey. Henderson was 2-for-3 for Rogers Post.
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