The Wolverines varsity baseball team at Wiscasset Middle High School hosted the Shipbuilders of Morse High School for a Patriot’s Day preseason doubleheader Monday afternoon.

The first game of the twin bill featured plenty of offense from the Shipbuilders, who shut out the Wolverines, 6-0. Wiscasset had a good opportunity to end the shutout in its final at bat when Daren Wood led off the seventh inning with a double. He quickly advanced to third on a passed ball but was left stranded there.

After a 20-minute break for lunch (Wolverine Coach Gregg Wood grilled hot dogs for all the kids), the teams were back at it again for game two. In the first inning, the Shipbuilders scored an unearned run off Wiscasset starter Tyler Bailey on a passed ball. The play at home plate was close but the umpire ruled the runner had eluded the tag.

The Wolverines’ offense came alive in the home half of the first inning. Grant Hefler led off by singling to left and then stole second. He then moved along to third on a passed ball and eventually scored on a wild pitch, tying the game.

Brandon Sprague drove in a run with a double in the home half of the second to put the Wolverines ahead, 2-1. Wood then stroked a 2-2 pitch to left field, scoring Sprague. Tyler Bailey then joined the hit parade with a line drive base hit up the middle that moved Wood over to third. That brought Colon Ranta to the plate and “DQ,” as his teammates call him, delivered with a double, scoring Wood and capping a three-run second inning.

The Wolverines held onto the lead until the final inning when Morse rallied and tied the game at 4-4. Wood then led off the home seventh inning with a double and Tyler Bailey followed with a base hit, putting runners at the corners. The next two batters then struck out. That brought Bryson Grover to the plate. Grover ran up a 3-2 pitch count before slicing a game-winning base hit between the shortstop and third baseman, giving Wiscasset a 5-4 victory. Bailey finished as the winning pitcher.

“Nothing builds confidence better then winning a game like this,” Coach Wood told the Wiscasset Newspaper afterward. “I moved Bryson down in the batting order so maybe he’d see a few better pitches to swing at and it paid off in a big way for us today.”

The Wolverines will compete again this season in Class C of the Mountain Valley Conference. They’ll play a 16-game schedule. Devin Grover is assisting Coach Wood as bench coach. Following the season opener with Boothbay on Friday, the Wolverines will travel to Lisbon April 25, return home to host a pair of games against Oak Hill April 27 and St. Dom’s Academy April 29. All of the games will start at 4 p.m.