AUBURN — The pouring rain let up just in time for St. Dom’s pitcher Ashton Hammond to find his groove on the mound.
Once Hammond got control of the ball, he retired Mount View’s side in order in the final five innings of the game as the Saints held on for a 2-1 victory in a rainy, cold and muddy baseball contest Wednesday.
“It was a little rough at the start,” Hammond said. “The balls were slick. It was hard to control the ball at all. It was hard to get a grip on the fast ball, but I felt good after that the rain (stopped).
“It was a lot easier when the rain stopped. I think it was a good win. Tough conditions, tough field, and we put together enough runs to get across the win. You can’t ask for anything better than that. It was just a good team win.”
Hammond finished off the Mustangs before the Saints were forced to go to their bullpen.
“Ash was getting up in his pitch count,” St. Dom’s coach Bob Blackman said. “That was his last batter he was going to face and (because the game ended) we didn’t have to go to the next guy.”
St. Dom’s now has two one-run wins over Mount View this season. The first was a 1-0 victory in Thorndike on April 26.
“Based on the conditions, I thought we played as well as we could,” Blackman said of Wednesday’s game. “Ashton kept us in the game so we could get those couple runs across. We didn’t hit the ball as well as I would have liked to have seen.
“Again, we faced two good left-handed pitchers today. We got a couple of runs across so hopefully that was going to be enough.”
Hammond threw a two-hitter, striking out seven batters and walking four for the Saints (5-1). From the second inning on, the Mustangs’ (1-5) offense sputtered at the plate, thanks to Hammond’s mix of choice pitches.
“Early on, (Ashton) had trouble with the rain,” Blackman said. “Once we got a little break in the weather, he really settled in.”
The drenching rain made it almost impossible for pitchers to keep a firm grip of the ball. The Mustangs took advantage of the inclement weather and moved one run across with the help of two errors and three walks in the second inning.
Miles Carter walked, moved to second on a passed ball and came home for a run after Levi Winslow got on due to a throwing error. Hammond, however, pitched his way out of the jam, and stranded three Mount View runners.
The Saints responded with two runs in the third inning to take a 2-1 lead.
Hammond led off with a walk, stole second, moved to third on Tim Ouellette’s sacrifice ground out and came home on a passed ball to tie the game.
The Saints’ second run came when Ridge Dionne walked and moved third base on Ethan Pelletier’s single. Dionne scored after Riley Daigle got on after an error at second base to provide a 2-1 lead, which held up for the next four innings.
Mustangs pitcher Dakota Harriman was tagged with the loss. He was relieved with two outs in the third inning by Noah Hurd, who kept the Saints’ offense at bay the remainder of the game.
“The pitching has been there all year long, and that has been the case all year. As I have said, we struggle to hit the baseball, and it has been that way for six games,” Mount View coach Brandon Hurd said. “Until we start to put the ball in play, we are going to be seeing a lot of Ls.
“Hats off to St. Dom’s. They did a great job. We have to get a little better if we want to compete.”
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