LEWISTON — After a six-run fourth inning gave Lewiston a lead and momentum, Edward Little baseball coach Dave Jordan’s message to his team was simple.
“I just told them they have some work to do, and the guys responded,” Jordan said.
The Red Eddies scored six runs in the fifth to take back the lead and then held on for a 12-10 win in a back-and-forth rivalry showdown Tuesday.
“They’ve done a nice job, when we’ve given up runs and teams have tied it or closed the gap, of coming back and responding offensively,” Jordan said. “I was proud they did; they had some great at-bats and it was a big turning point for us.”
Missing some players because of quarantine rules, Edward Little trotted out freshman pitcher Drew Smith for only his second start of the season, his first coming last week against Poland.
Smith gave up three runs to the Blue Devils in the first three innings, then he and the Red Eddies’ defense struggled in the fourth, giving up six runs on four hits and two errors, which left Edward Little with a 9-4 deficit.
Connor Wolverton singled and scored the first run of the frame when Noah Hill walked with the bases loaded. Danny May added another run that gave Lewiston a 5-4 lead. Later in the inning, Andon Cox’s bases-loaded triple to deep left field scored three runs. Cox was then brought home on a Michael Dymkoski single, giving Lewiston a five-run lead over its cross-river rivals.
The Red Eddies, entered their turn at-bat focused on bouncing back.
“Coach said have a big inning, and that’s a big part of the game,” Edward Little’s Jack Keefe said. “We had to battle adversity.”
Chase Martin singled to start the top of the fifth inning for EL, then stole second, reached third on a wild pitch and scored on an error — all before Keefe, who was at the plate, could put the ball in play. Keefe ended up doubling. Colin Merritt followed with a double that scored Keefe, cutting Lewiston’s lead to 9-6.
“I looked for a pitch I could hit and they gave it,” Keefe said. “I tried to work the count the whole game. We knew they pitched a lot against Oxford Hills, so we wanted to work the count.”
Merritt, Campbell Cassidy, Alex Avila and Kamden Masselli to put Edward Little back in front 10-9.
In Lewiston’s half of the fifth, Smith faced only four batters before retiring the side.
“Just keep thinking, ‘Next batter, next batter,’” Smith said of his approach. “I can’t do anything about what already happened, so just keep throwing strikes. As long as I threw strikes I was confident I would stay in.”
Patrick Anthoine replaced Smith on the mound for the final two innings.
“He’s definitely a guy that puts a lot of time in his game, and he’s got a great frame for a freshman and just a pitcher itself,” Jordan said of Smith. “I thought he did a great job battling adversity.”
Edward Little added a pair of runs in the top of the seventh to take a 12-9 lead.
Lewiston’s Nate Lyons score a run to cut the deficit to two runs, but that’s as close as the Blue Devils got.
Even with the loss, which comes a few days after dropping both games of a doubleheader to Oxford Hills on Saturday, Lewiston coach Darren Hartley is excited about the Blue Devils’ outlook for the rest of the season.
“I am really proud of our guys. We are very excited about our approach to the plate, but at the end, when you take the foot off the pedal, you have to take advantage situationally,” Hartley said. “… At the end of the day, we will be a better team on May 30.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
