Dirigo’s Cam Turner keys in on a pitch ahead of Monmouth catcher Matt Fortin during the Mustangs’ win in Dixfield on Friday. (Wil Kramlich/Sun Journal)
DIXFIELD — Avery Pomerleau started the game with his bat and ended it with his glove. In between the Monmouth senior lead-off hitter used his legs with success as well.
Pomerleau scored the game-winning run in the top of the eighth inning, then was on the mound for the final out in the bottom half, and he secured a grounder before calmly firing to first to complete the Mustangs’ 8-6, extra-innings victory over Dirigo in an MVC Class C South baseball game at Harlow Park on Friday.
The Mustangs (5-2) took a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first, thanks to Pomerleau’s prowess as a leadoff hitter. He singled off Cougars (4-5) starter Mike Packard, then moved to second on Nick Dovinsky’s sacrifice bunt. Corey Armstrong followed with another single to score Pomerleau.
Dovinsky started on the mound for the Mustangs and had a relatively quiet first inning of work, but the Cougars got to him in the second. Cam Turner led off the frame with a deep double and moved to third on Jeremy St. Germain’s sacrifice bunt. Cole Brown and Dallas Berry sandwiched run-scoring singles around Quentin Penley’s hit-by-pitch, then Chandler Raymond singled in another run. Cooper Chiasson walked to load the bases before Dovinsky got a second out, but an error drove in a fifth run to give the Cougars a 5-1 lead.
“It didn’t get us down,” Pomerleau said. “It kind of was an eye-opener because we have faith — I have faith in everyone — that we can really score the ball if we put our minds to it.”
The Mustangs got one run back in the third with a Pomerleau walk, Dovinsky single, a double steal and a Trevor Flanagan sacrifice fly. The Cougars re-gained the four-run lead in the fourth thanks to an error, passed ball and a Turner RBI single.
“We got up 6-2 and we knew it wasn’t enough,” Cougars coach Ryan Palmer said.
Monmouth erased the entire deficit in the top of the fifth. Dovinsky led off with a single, which knocked Packard out of the game. Wyatt Lufkin came on in relief and Armstrong reached on an error before Lufkin got two quick outs. Dovinsky scored on a passed ball, then two singles, a walk and two hit batters scored three more runs to tie the game 6-6.
“We knew they were going to hit the ball. They always do,” Mustangs coach Eric Palleschi said. “We just needed to weather that storm, and then stick it out, and try to scratch and claw and see what we could get.”
The rest of the regulation seven innings were fairly quiet. Monmouth reliever Trevor Flanagan — who replaced Dovinsky in the third — scattered three hits in his five-plus innings of work.
“I thought he was living on the outside corner a lot, and changing speeds very, very well,” Palmer said. “And he dropped down to the side a little bit, and I think our hitters had a hard time picking that up.”
The Mustangs went down quietly in their half of the seventh before Flanagan survived a two-out double by Dirigo No. 9 hitter Dallas Berry in the bottom half.
“Going into the seventh I looked and we had the bottom of ours, they had the bottom of theirs, and I think I looked at Coach (Don) Flanagan and said, ‘I guess we’re going to play eight today,'” Palleschi said. “We just knew.”
Luckily for the Mustangs they had the top of their order up to start the eighth. That meant Pomerleau leading off, and he singled to center. He stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch before Dovinsky singled him in.
“I talk to Coach Palleschi about this a lot, that my speed, we talked that I feel like we can run on anyone. And don’t react, but trust my speed and get the best jump I can,” Pomerleau said. “It’s just confidence from there, run as hard as I can.”
Dovinsky also stole second, then hustled to score when Armstrong bunted for a single, giving the Mustangs’ a two-run cushion.
“We knew that they had two, three, four coming up in their in inning, so we knew one run might not do it,” Palleschi said. “I told the kids, I said, ‘Let’s see if we can get two.'”
Chiasson walked to lead off the bottom of the eighth, then two batters later Chase Thebarge was hit by a Flanagan pitch. Turner struck out for the second out, then Palleschi brought in Pomerleau — a left-handed pitcher — to try and get final out.
“I was so excited. I was ready for the moment,” Pomerleau said. “I was confident because (Coach Palleschi) told me to pick the kid off first base, and I love my pick-off move. I almost got him, but I had faith in my pitching too.”
Jacob York came on to pinch run for Thebarge, and he and Chiasson successfully completed a double steal to get both runners into scoring position. But Pomerleau cleanly fielded a St. Germain comebacker and fired to Flanagan at first to end the game.
It was a tough loss to swallow for the Cougars, who dropped below .500 and are on the outside looking in for a playoff spot.
“It’s a lot like last year. We need that one big win to get things going, and we’re going to need a couple big wins if we want to make the playoffs,” Palmer said.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
Monmouth’s Avery Pomerleau prepares to deliver a pitch during the Mustangs’ win over Dirigo in Dixfield on Friday. (Wil Kramlich/Sun Journal)Dirigo’s Jacob Gaudin dives back to first base during a loss to Monmouth in Dixfield on Friday. (Wil Kramlich/Sun Journal)Monmouth’s Nick Dovinsky squares up for a pitch during a win over Dirigo in Dixfield on Friday. (Wil Kramlich/Sun Journal)Monmouth pitcher Trevor Flanagan releases a delivery during a win over Dirigo in Dixfield on Friday. (Wil Kramlich/Sun Journal)Dirigo pitcher Mike Packard unleashes a delivery during a loss to Monmouth in Dixfield on Friday. (Wil Kramlich/Sun Journal)
Monmouth catcher Matt Fortin loses control of the ball as he tries to tag out Dirigo’s Cole Brown during the Mustangs’ win in Dixfield on Friday. (Wil Kramlich/Sun Journal)
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