Whether it was a passed ball or a costly error, the Falcons took advantage of every opportunity on the base paths. Freeport’s outfielders went out of the way to snatch every hard-hit ball launched by Cape Elizabeth.
Throw in Jack Davenport’s strong pitching and the No. 7 Falcons (14-6) found themselves walking off with a Class B South regional baseball title after beating the No 1 Capers (13-6) 3-1 Wednesday evening at St. Joseph’s College.
But the Falcons’ seventh seeding is deceiving. They have been knocking off the top seeds since they made their way to the regional final.
Wednesday night was no different.
“I think I am shock right now,” Freeport coach Bill Ridge said. “It seemed kind of unreal all playoffs. Maybe I should just start believing it.
“We played very, very strong defense behind (Davenport). We tried to hit and run. We wanted to do that right from the start.
Four errors and several passed balls helped the Falcons’ cause. Freeport only provided four hits to the Capers’ six. But again, Freeport’s outfielders proved their worth.
“They were awesome. Those three (center fielder Joe Burke, right fielder Josh Spaulding and left fielder Caiden) ended up getting better and better. Joe in center is a good as it gets. He won us some games out there. Caiden and Spaulding — they are awesome.”
In the top half of the first inning, Freeport’s Joe Burke got on with error at first base. He came home when Davenport stretched a double into a triple to give Freeport a 1-0 lead.
In the fourth inning, the Falcons again capitalized on two Capers errors. Josh Burke singled and moved to third base on a throwing error from the Cape Elizabeth third baseman that allowed Caleb Rice to reach first base. Burke came home with Freeport’s second run thanks to an another error at first base.
The Capers responded in the bottom of the fourth with their only run. Pat Macdonald doubled, stole third base and scored on a throwing error on a passed ball.
To give themselves some breathing room, the Falcons added a run in the fifth inning. Second baseman Max Doughty got on with a single, moved to second on Joe Burke’s bunt, stole third base and scored on a passed ball to make it 3-1.
Davenport went the distance for Freeport. Cape Elizabeth’s Marshall Peterson nearly went the whole way, coming out for one out in the fifth when Bryce Hewitt replaced him. Peterson returned that inning.
“Marshall (Peterson) pitched good enough to win the ball game,” Cape Elizabeth coach Andrew Wood said. “But Jack Davenport is definitely a good pitcher.
“That’s a classy program over there. The entire community of Freeport, the passion, came out, and that’s a special thing. They deserve everything that they are going for. I hope they win it.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
