TOPSHAM — Little, if anything, seems to rattle pitcher Brady Vincent or shortstop Kamden Masselli, whose nonchalant personas serve them well.
Both players kept it together and helped seventh-seeded Edward Little escape with a spine-tingling 4-3 victory over third-seeded Mt Ararat in a Class A North semifinal on Saturday.
The win, which came less than 24 hours after they beat No. 2 Oxford Hills in the quarterfinals, keeps the Red Eddies’ unlikely postseason run alive. They next face top-ranked Bangor (17-1)in the regional final at Morton Field in Augusta on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Edward Little (11-8) was leading Saturday’s game 4-2 heading into the seventh inning, with Vincent overseeing the two outs before he was relieved by Brody Keefe.
But the talented, never-quit Eagles started making things happen.
Ryan Robertson singled, and Shea Farrell walked. With two men on, Lauden Chase’s RBI single sent Farrell home and Chase found his way to third base, putting the Eagles within one run of tying the game.
Keefe delivered his pitch to Carson Taylor, who ripped it hard to Masselli. He scooped it up and threw the speeding ball to lanky first baseman Pat Anthoine, who leaped for the throw and tagged Taylor to end the game.
Vincent, who earned the win, said he had no problem leaving the rubber when Edward Little coach Dave Jordan stepped to the mound.
“The energy kept me through, adrenaline — all of it helped,” Vincent said. “(I) just wanted to win and move on. I felt like I could pitch against any team and I could win.”
“I thought Brady did a fantastic job,” Jordan said. “He had to battle some adversity early on. We made some mistakes — gave up a couple of runs early in the game. But (Brady) settled down and put us in a position where we could still compete and he held them at bay at that point.”
Jordan said Keefe was brought in for a new look, and that Taylor is a big hitter for the Eagles.
Masselli easily handed Taylor’s hard shot and zipped it over to Anthoine, who might have just made biggest the leap of his life before he applied the cage.
“It wasn’t necessarily physically tough more than mentally tough (to make the play), Masselli said. “A big situation like that is always nerve-wracking, getting that ball, but luckily, I had a good first baseman make the catch, and (Anthoine) made a good play.
“A pretty good hit ball on their part. Luckily it was right to me and I was able to make a good throw.”
Jordan was pleased the Red Eddies defensive heroics in the seven-inning nail-bitter, which resulted in another hard-fought win.
“We’ve been on a run here,” Jordan said. “We’ve got some really good opponents. Mt. Ararat was another one. They came and played a great game.”
The Eagles used one hit to put two runs on the board in the first inning after the Red Eddies made three errors.
Edward Little scored its first run in the third inning when TJ. Kramarz reached a walk and moved to third on two passed balls. He came home when Aiden Gonzalez was thrown out at first base.
With Mt. Ararat leading 2-1, the Red Eddies manufactured three runs two errors, a walk and one hit, with Gonzalez, Campbell Cassidy and Kramarz all finding their way home with a run.
“We have a saying, ‘Just hang around,’ because we know are just going to keep battling,” Mt. Ararat coach Brett Chase said. “Give EL a ton of credit. They played pretty well today.
“(We) could have easily laid down. We had that one bad inning, and they scored a couple of runs, but the guys stayed up and battled until the last out.”
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