Western Class D Baseball Finals

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Sat, 06/14/2014 - 5:15pm

BEN BULKELEY, Staff Reporter

GRANT HEFLER sprints down the line in the top of the first inning. Hefler beat the throw and the Wiscasset High School boys varsity baseball team beat the Richmond Bobcats, 9-3, on Saturday, June 14. Read more inside. BEN BULKELEY/Wiscasset Newspaper

THE WISCASSET High School baseball team rallies around Head Coach Mike Bowles during the Saturday, June 14 playoff game in Richmond. The Wolverines would go on to defeat the top-ranked Bobcats and move forward in the Class D tournament. BEN BULKELEY/Wiscasset Newspaper

TYLER FLAVIN runs down a grounder during the Wednesday, June 12 playoff game between Wiscasset and Valley High School on Saturday, June 14. BEN BULKELEY/Wiscasset Newspaper

Heading into the quarterfinal game against Richmond High School, the Wiscasset High School boys varsity baseball team had one special mission:

Get number one-seeded Richmond fireballer Mike Stewart out of the game, and early.

In the end, the Wolverines were able to drive up the Bobcat ace's pitch count en route to a 9-3 victory Saturday, June 14 in the Western Class D regional finals.

Wiscasset starting pitcher Darren Wood was able to go the distance for the Wolverines, but ran into trouble in the fifth inning.

Wiscasset had jumped out to a first-inning four-run lead, thanks in large part to a booming Nate Howard base hit. The team would scratch out another two runs to give the team a 6-0 advantage heading into the fifth inning.

Richmond was finally able to strike, with an RBI base hit and an error in the outfield to cut the score to 6-3.

The Wolverines weren't done, however.

“All year long we've responded when the other team scores,” Wood said. “It seems like if they go out and score one or two runs, we come out and match it.

“I wasn't too worried: We always come back.”

Wiscasset was in the end able to drive up the pitch count and force Stewart from the game.

“Going in, we wanted to make Mike throw a lot of pitches, and throw a lot of strikes,” Wiscasset Head Coach Mike Bowles said after the game. “We didn't want to help him out. The plan was to make him throw over 100 pitches (Stewart finished with 123) and the plan worked out perfectly today.”

Wiscasset will next play at 3 p.m. Wednesday, June 18 against Buckfield, at St. Joseph's College in Standish.

“Buckfield has a lefty pitcher who's tough,” Bowles said.

“We'll take it easy (the rest of the weekend) but on Monday, we're getting back to work.”

Wiscasset wins playoff opener

After three innings, Wiscasset High School boys baseball coach Mike Bowles faced a dilemma June 11.

Should he leave in pitcher Darren Wood, who had so far racked up seven strikeouts and allowed no hits in the first three innings of the Wolverines’ playoff match-up against Valley High School, or remove Wood so that the pitcher would be available Saturday should Wiscasset advance?

In the end, Wood was lifted and Wiscasset needed only five innings to dispatch Valley, 10-0, to advance in the Western Class D playoffs.

Bowles said having Wood available Saturday outweighed a no-hitter and the Wolverines were able to execute on the mound, in the field and at the plate, which ultimately made the decision easier.

“The guys were able to put together great at bats, they put the ball in play and they made things happen,” he said. “They executed in all three facets of the game.”

Tyler Bailey was able to pick up where Wood left off and blanked Valley over the last two innings.

Wiscasset scored in the first inning after Wood drove home Grant Hefler, who had singled and stolen second. The Wolverines wasted no time adding to that lead: Nate Howard and Matt Craig crossed the plate in the second inning to push the lead to 3-0.

The bats came alive in the third, as Wood, Chandler Longfellow, Tyler Bailey and Howard scored runs to push the lead to 7-0.

Wiscasset would end the game with one out in fifth after Wood hit a pop-up that landed in no-man's land behind first base to score Tyler Flavin. Hefler made a snap decision to race home on a wild throw to score the 10th run and end the game.

“That's a pretty fun way to end a game,” Bowles said.