BATH — Despite not pitching for most of the high school baseball season for Wiscasset, Conlon Ranta of Smith-Tobey Post 21 had it working on Friday in an American Legion Zone II contest at Kelley Field against Locke Mills.
Through four innings, the righty held Locke Mills to two hits, throwing just 42 pitches, and his team held a 2-0 lead.
But, the lack of pitching during the season eventually got the best of Ranta, who was tagged for five runs in the fifth inning as Smith-Tobey fell to 1-7 with a 7-5 loss.
Locke Mills of Bethel improved to 3-5.
Ranta felt that he tired out.
“My curveball and being able to place by two-seam was working really well,” said Ranta, who struck out five and walked two in 4 2-3 innings. “I was feeling great, but I got tired. I just didn’t pitch much this year.”
In the big fifth frame, former Dirigo standout Anthony Todd started things off by dropping a perfectly-placed bunt along the third-base line. That ended a stretch of seven consecutive hitters retired by Ranta.
“I never bunt. I think I just bunted one time during the high school season,” Todd said. “I figured I would try to bunt and get something going. The energy definitely bumped up there. That is what I was trying to do.”
From there, the wheels came off for Smith-Tobey. Back-to-back walks to Caleb Clarke and Cody Dolloff loaded the bases with one out, and a ground ball by No. 9 hitter Eric Lowell put Locke Mills on the board.
Mitch Kubesh lined the next Ranta offering to right field for a two-run single and a 3-2 lead for Locke Mills. An error kept the inning going, and Tyler Frost bounced an RBI double off the left-field fence for a 5-2 advantage.
Ranta’s Wiscasset teammate Grant Hefler relieved, and went the final 2 1-3 innings. He allowed two runs and four hits, while striking out one.
Solid relief
Clarke started for Locke Mills. His control was off in the opening frame as he walked two Smith-Tobey hitters, and three errors for the visitors allowed the hosts to grab a quick 2-0 lead. Jacob Cressey hustled to first on the first Locke Mills miscue, and a walk to Ranta put two runners on with nobody out. After a wild pitch moved both runners 90 feet, Daren Wood ripped a Clarke pitch that skipped through an infielder’s legs for a error with both Smith-Tobey runners coming home.
Things might have been a lot worse for Clarke, who walked the bases loaded in the second. He escaped by picking up his second strikeout, but two Smith-Tobey runners reached in the third (an error, walk) to put an end to Clarke’s outing. In 2 1-3 frames, he walked six. However, Smith-Tobey left six runners on base in the first three innings.
Kubesh relieved Clarke and locked down the Smith-Tobey attack. He retired 11 of the first 12 hitters that he faced.
Locke Mills added a single run the sixth. Todd dropped another bunt for a single, with Chase Harkin (2-for-3) following with a base knock. Clarke sacrificed for the first out, and Hefler hit Dolloff with a pitch to load the bases. Lowell hit into a fielder’s choice for his second RBI.
In the seventh, Kane Hutchins launched a double to right-center field to score Frost (2-for-4), who had singled.
Heading to the home half of the seventh, Smith-Tobey still was without a hit. But, the hosts scored three runs on four hits along with two Locke Mills errors to get to 7-5. Catcher John Pepin picked up the inning’s second out when he gunned down his second runner of the game on a steal attempt of second base, and Kubesh (4 2-3, five strikeouts, one walk) retired the final hitter on a ground ball to third to close out the win.
“A lot of us our young, and we just have to get used to playing against 20-year-olds,” said Ranta, whose Smith-Tobey squad is scheduled to visit Rogers Post of New Auburn on Monday at 5:45 p.m.
Locke Mills is slated to host Brunswick on Monday at 5:45 p.m.
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