Pastime’s Hunter Landry slides into second base as Augusta’s Justin Rodrigue leaps over him during the game at Pettingill Park in Lewiston on Wednesday afternoon.
The second inning has been a charm for Pastime in the Zone 2 playoffs so far.
Pastime scored twelve runs in the second inning of its first playoff game against River Valley on Tuesday. And with five in the second of Wednesday’s semifinal matchup with Augusta, Pastime got all it needed to hang on for a 5-4 win, launching the Lewiston-based club into the Zone 2 championship against Bessey Motors.
“There’s a lot of good stuff to take out of it,” Pastime manager Jake Brown said. “We beat a team that can really hit the baseball, so that’s good. There was a lot of momentum changes in this game, and I think coming back from yesterday’s game where there were really no momentum changes, I really liked how our guys reacted to those changes.”
In the first inning, Pastime pitcher Evan Cox got out of the inning stranding just one batter. Pastime was set down in order in the bottom half by Augusta pitcher Ryan Sinclair, who went seven and two-thirds innings.
In the top of the second, the road team was set down in order, giving Pastime an opportunity to break the game open.
And did it ever.
Lucas Francis jump started the inning with a double. Jack LeBlond drove Francis in with a single, and the next two batters also reached. Catcher Brock Belanger then drove home LeBlond and Eddie Turgeon with a single, and Gage Cote added a double after that to push the lead to 5-0.
The bats came alive in the top-half of the third for Augusta, when Austin Stebbins walked and got driven home on a double from Kolbe Merfelo. A single later in the inning scored Merfelo, and Augusta was back in business, trailing 5-2.
Pastime was down in order in the bottom of the third, and Augusta made another move.
Cole Lockhart started the fourth with a walk, followed by a single by Mark Buzzell and a passed ball that scored Lockhart and moved Buzzell to third. An RBI single by Stebbins cut the Augusta deficit to just one with five innings remaining.
A one-two-three fifth inning again for Pastime gave Augusta another opportunity to take the lead over the home team, but with two runners on Pastime turned a 6-5-3 double play to end the top-half of the fifth.
Brock Belanger opened the bottom half of the fifth by fighting off an 0-2 count to secure the walk, but bad base running on a hit from Cote led to Belanger being tagged out rounding third. Another fielder’s choice and a groundout ended the frustrating inning for Pastime, keeping the score at 5-4. In the bottom of the sixth, Pastime left two men on, but a double play did them in.
Augusta left two men on in the top of the seventh that contributed to their nine total runners left on base for the game. A diving catch ultimately saved Augusta in the bottom of the seventh, stranding two Pastime runners.
Augusta kept battling as Lockhart was able to reach second base to start the eighth inning but to no avail, as relief pitcher Gordon Beckwith shut down the next three batters, capping off the inning with a strikeout.
“The worst thing you can do when you come in is start walking people and getting in a hole early when you first get out there,” Beckwith said. “So just throw strikes, and I’ve got good fielders, too.”
In the ninth, Taylor Heath reached on a passed ball that was the third strike. Merfelo followed with a groundout, but while running to first, Merfelo pushed the first baseman resulting in an ejection from the game. Jason Brooks was hit by a pitch, but ultimately left on, as closer Hunter Richardson finished the last two batters for Augusta.
“I think part of their plan was to get into our heads and I thought our guys really played disciplined,” Brown said.
Augusta coach Tim Rodrigue was happy with his team’s resolve.
“We were down five to nothing and battled back, we had every chance to go ahead and couldn’t capitalize,” Rodrigue said. “They had one more hit than we did, it’s the way it goes.”
For Pastime, it’s on to Bessey Motors, a team that almost no-hit them in their previous matchup, in the championship game,
“We want them,” Beckwith said. “It’s pretty well known that we want them.”
Augusta’s Austin Stebbins slides safely into third base as Pastime’s Lucas Francis attempts to catch the ball during the match up at Pettingill Park in Lewiston on Wednesday afternoon.
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