H.S. baseball: Cape Elizabeth keeps St. Dom’s in check, win 5-2

Cape Elizabeth baserunner Marshall Peterson holds on to second base as St. Dominic Academy shortstop Mack Pelletier holds the ball up for umpire John White, who called Peterson safe on the play.

AUBURN — Cape Elizabeth took advantage of four St. Dom’s errors, scoring three unearned runs en route to a 5-2 victory in WMC baseball action Wednesday afternoon.

“We made plays today, but not enough,” St. Dom’s coach Bob Blackman said. “The ones we didn’t make hurt us today.”

Carson Sullivan wasted no time for the Capers, leading off the contest with a line-drive single past St. Dom’s third baseman Hunter Hughes. After moving to second base on a groundout, Sullivan came around to score on a Sean Agrondia single, giving Cape Elizabeth an early 1-0 lead.

Cape Elizabeth (11-4) threatened for a big inning in the second when back-to-back errors by the defense and an infield hit loaded the bases for Cooper Hoffman. The Capers attempted a squeeze play, but Justin Keaney’s pitch sailed wide and Finn Bowe scored uncontested.

On the very next pitch, another squeeze was attempted but Hoffman’s offering missed and Jameson Bakke was tagged out on the third baseline by catcher Michael Ciley.

“We recently brought up the No. 9 hitter (Hoffman) from JV for his bunting ability,” Cape Elizabeth coach Andrew Wood said. “With the pitcher going from the stretch, we thought it was a good place to try this. We were fortunate the first pitch went to the backstop, but he’s got to get that bunt down on the second attempt.”

Mack Pelletier hit a one-out double for St. Dom’s in the second inning and moved to third on a Riley Volpe single. Volpe stole second base two pitches later, and on the throw from catcher Brendan Tinsman, Pelletier scampered home for a Saints run, cutting the lead to 2-1.

The Capers tacked on a pair of unearned runs in the top of the fourth inning when two more runners reached base on infield errors. A wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by Hoffman increased the lead to 4-1.

“We came out doing what we wanted to do. We wanted to get ground balls out of this team and we did. Justin pitched a great game for us, keeping the pitches in on their hands, not allowing their big guys to extend their arms,” Blackman said.

The Saints got one back in the bottom half after Keaney walked, moved to third on an error at short and came home to score on a sacrifice fly by Volpe. Sullivan was replaced by Bowe to get the final out and stranded a runner at second base.

“Finn is usually our shortstop. This is his second time pitching this year. He comes in and throws strikes. I brought him in with a 3-0 count to throw strikes and he did, making me look like a genius,” Wood said.

Tinsman added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning, ripping a 2-2 pitch over centerfielder Bob Shelley for an inside-the-park home run, the junior’s third homer of the season.

“He’s batting over .500 and every time he comes to the plate, the ball just jumps off his bat. That last at-bat he had, he worked the count to 2-2, fouling off a few pitches before getting that fastball to rip,” coach Wood said.

The Saints didn’t go quietly, getting seventh-inning singles from Will Laflamme and Zach Pelletier, but weren’t able to push any runs across and succumbing to the Capers.

“To come out of this game only giving up five runs, I’ll take it. Not a bad game to end on against a very quality team that has a chance to win it all in (Southern) B this year,” Blackman said.

Agrondia finished with a pair of singles and an RBI, while Marshall Peterson added a single for Cape Elizabeth. The Capers will face Fryeburg Academy on Thursday to conclude their regular season.

Both Mack Pelletier and Bob Shelley each ripped doubles in the loss. Shelley also singled. St. Dom’s finishes the regular season 9-7 and will await the final games to be played in Class C to see where it lands in the final Heal point standings.

“We’ll turn the page and get ready for the playoffs next,” Blackman said.

Cape Elizabeth first baseman Marshall Peterson waits for the throw from the pithcer on a pickoff attempt as St. Dominic Academy’s Justin Keaney slides back safely to the bag during their game in Auburn on Wednesday.

St. Dominic Academy pitcher Justin Keaney delivers a pitch against Cape Elizabeth during their game in Auburn on Wednesday.

St. Dominic Academy left fielder Ben Gosselin dives for the ball against cape Elizabeth during their game in Auburn on Wednesday.

St. Dominic Academy baseball coach Bob Blackman

St. Dominic Academy second baseman Zach Pelletier has a ball hit off the heel of his glve and fall for a hit during a game against Cape Elizabeth in Auburn on Wednesday.