FARMINGTON — Corey Rogers scattered seven hits and allowed two earned runs over five and two-thirds innings, and Mt. Blue’s batters took advantage of eight walks in a 13-4 victory over Brunswick in KVAC baseball action Friday afternoon at Hippach Field.
After a leadoff walk and a single in the first inning, Rogers, a senior left-hander, settled into a groove and shut down the Dragons, giving up just one hit over the next three innings .
“He pitched really well. He’s been pitching well all year long. He struggled to settle in in the first inning, but then he started to relax a little bit and started to get his curveball over,” first-year Mt. Blue coach Steve Lancaster said.
Rogers’ off-speed pitches kept the Brunswick hitters off-balance, and the strikes he threw allowed his defense make plays behind him.
“He threw a lot of put outs, ground balls and balls in play, and kept them off-balance, as they weren’t hitting the ball very hard, creating any threat against us,” Lancaster said.
Sean Testa got the offense rolling for Mt. Blue in bottom of the first when he took the first pitch he saw from Zach Grant and ripped a hit into the right-center gap for a one-out triple. Alex Philbrick brought Testa home on a groundout to second for the 1-0 lead.
Testa was at it again in third. After leading off the inning with a single, he stole second and came home on a Miles Pelletier single. A misplayed ball in right field with the bases loaded allowed two more runs to score, chasing Grant and giving the Cougars a 5-0 lead through three innings.
After an unearned run by Brunswick, Mt. Blue got four more runs, aided by three walks and an RBI single by David McDonald that scored Philbrick. Two of those walks, along with McDonald, came around to score, giving the Cougars a 9-1 lead after four innings.
With an eight-run lead, Rogers continued to throw strikes to the Brunswick hitters. A pinch-hit double by Max Freeman followed by another two-bagger by Kyle Hanson two batters later seemingly putting Rogers on the ropes.
A Grant single scored Hanson and Sam Sharpe was able to reach on an error. Aaron Gary punched a single to score Grant ahead of the throw to the plate, but Sharpe was gunned down at third by Mt. Blue catcher Ethan Andrews dampening any threat.
Testa hit another one-out triple in the fifth inning, and scored yet again on another RBI single by Philbrick.
“Sean’s been coming around for us. He struggled a little at the leadoff spot, so we moved him down a spot and he’s responded well,” Lancaster said.
Despite a strong effort from Brunswick catcher Scout Masse, Cougar (3-6) runners swiped nine bases off low balls in the dirt and out-of-the-strike-zone pitches.
Staked with 12-4 lead, Rogers entered the sixth inning with just under 100 pitches. A leadoff single and a pair of strikeouts sandwiched around a couple of walks, and Rogers’ day was done at 113 pitches.
“Yeah, I’m a little tired,” Rogers said. “In a good way, as I was able to go out there and pitch deep into the ballgame for our team.”
Freshman Kyle Fox came in for the final four outs, including a pair of strikeouts to end the game.
“With a lot of games being played, we need to keep our pitchers ready to go. We called up Fox from JV today and he threw strikes,” Lancaster said.
Mt. Blue collected 11 hits in all, paced by Testa’s three knocks and a pair of singles by Andrews, Philbrick and Pelletier.
Grant had two singles, and Dalton Dickey and Kyle Hanson each had doubles for the Dragons (0-6).
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