TOPSHAM — The way the Edward Little baseball team has been pitching lately, the last thing the Mt. Ararat baseball team wanted to do was spot the Red Eddies an early lead.
But that is exactly what happened, as EL scored eight runs in the first two frames as the Red Eddies took home a 10-0 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference win on Wednesday.
EL (9-3) has now picked up three straight shutouts and has allowed just four runs, two earned in the past six games. Against Mt. Ararat, starter Lew Jensen pitched out of trouble throughout his five innings of work. He allowed five hits and walked four, but picked up seven strikeouts, most coming with Eagles in scoring position.
“We talk about how well you do when you don’t have your best stuff, and he made the pitches that he needed to make today,” said Red Eddies coach Dave Jordan, whose squad faces rival Lewiston on Friday.
For Mt. Ararat, the 0-12 Eagles showed character after falling behind 8-0, battling to the end in the six inning game.
“We are so close, a big hit away from really getting some things going,” said Mt. Ararat coach Bob Neron, whose Eagles visit Lawrence on Friday.
Strong EL start
After Mt. Ararat catcher Cam Cox threw out EL lead-off hitter Austin Cox attempting to steal second base, things went south for Eagles starting pitcher Harper Moutal (1 1/3 innings, six hits, four walks, three strikeouts). He walked Drew Lashua and an error on a fly ball hit by Jared Plourde put two runners on. Lew Jensen followed with a bad-hop grounder for an RBI double, and Brandon Varney launched a two-run double to left-center field for a 3-0 lead.
Jensen worked around a walk and a single by Moutal in the home half of the first, and the Red Eddies picked up five more runs in the second, the key blows a two-run double by Plourde and a two-run bases-loaded single by Tyler Blanchard.
Mt. Ararat continued to put runners on base, leaving two on in the second and fourth before loading the bases in the fifth. A fielder’s choice ground ball ended that threat to complete Jensen’s 93-pitch outing.
“We are just resilient, with our pitchers hitting their spots,” said Varney, who has worked hard behind the plate to keep his team loose. “Baseball is a fun game, and I just told Lew to just have some fun out here. We are playing great baseball right now.”
“Brandon is a veteran guy back there and puts a lot of time into receiving,”Jordan said.
Neron went to reliever Kevin Carter in the second inning. Carter kept EL off the board in the third, fourth and fifth frames.
“What Kevin always does is keep us in games when he comes in,” said Neron. “I will be kicking myself tonight, not going with him from the start. I am the biggest second guesser around, and I am second guessing myself right now. He threw very well.”
“I was able to hit my spots, and my team helped me out,” Carter said. “We have a lot of heart. We give our best every single time, and I know this team will be good over the next couple of years.”
EL pushed the final two runs across in the sixth, with Plourde and Jensen each driving in a run with a single.
“We had a nice strong start, and the middle innings I would like to see us focus a little bit better, but we got it back in the sixth,” Jordan said.
Jensen was 3-for-4 to lead the 10-hit Red Eddies attack, with Plourde and Luke Sterling picking up two hits apiece. C.J. Jipson pitched the sixth frame, with two strikeouts to close out the win.
Carter led Mt. Ararat with a 2-for-3 afternoon. Over his 4 2/3 innings on the mound, he struck out two, walked three and permitted four hits. Wyatt Card doubled, while Moutal and Mason Griffin each singled.
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