FARMINGTON — Silas Tibbetts started Tuesday’s Class A North prelim game on the bench for the Skowhegan baseball team.
He ended the game against Mt. Blue a difference-maker.
Tibbetts cracked an RBI single in the top of the seventh inning to give the River Hawks the go-ahead run, then shut the door in the bottom of the inning with two strikeouts to help secure a 6-5 victory.
No. 9 Skowhegan (9-8) will face No. 1 Bangor in the quarterfinals. The No. 8 Cougars finished 7-10.
“It feels great,” Tibbetts said. “Coming in during a rough spot, it feels good to get a run in. The biggest thing was just staying relaxed on the mound. It felt good to strike that last kid out.”
Tied 5-5 in the top of the seventh, Tibbetts — who came in relief for starter Ben Morgan in the fourth — cracked a flare into right field to plate Tyler Annis for the 6-5 lead.
“All I was thinking was trying to get the ball in the air, maybe get a sacrifice fly,” Tibbetts said. “Anything to get a run in. That’s what I did and it felt great.”
Tibbetts managed to make quick work of the Cougars in the bottom of the seventh. Annis nabbed a ground ball deep in the hole at shortstop off the bat of Zak Koban for the first out, before Tibbetts struck out Ike Wrigley and Zach Poisson to end the game.
Tibbetts earned the win, pitching 3 1/3 innings, giving up two hits while striking out four.
“He’s pitched a lot at the (junior varsity) level, and he’s been sharp,” Skowhegan head coach Mike LeBlanc said. “He’s a competitor. He loves baseball, that’s his love. When I’ve put him in for varsity games, he’s done extremely well. He threw five innings of shutout ball two weeks ago against Bangor. I’ve got confidence in him, he’s going to be a good one.”
The River Hawks jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first, highlighted by a two-run double to left field by Morgan. Mt. Blue got two runs back in the third inning on RBI groundouts from Nolan Leso and Evan Downing. A two-run error from Skowhegan in the fourth inning tied the game 4-4.
Skowhegan’s Chance Tibbetts is tagged out at third base by Mt. Blue’s Hayden Dippner during a Class A North baseball preliminary game Tuesday in Farmington. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
“I’m super proud (of the team),” Mt. Blue head coach Rob Dippner said. “Going into the season, we didn’t have any varsity experience on the mound. Today, we had to go to our freshman (Leso) because our ace, Brody (Walsh) tore a muscle fiber in his arm. Nolan stepped up, had some freshman goosebumps in the first inning. Then we settled in and just answered.”
Annis gave Skowhegan a 5-4 lead in the fifth, scoring from third base on a pickle play. The Cougars answered with an RBI single from Walsh that plated Wrigley to make it a 5-5 game.
“I’m very proud (of the team),” LeBlanc said. “We could have gone south after giving up a couple runs, not executing our plays. In the end, we were able to execute and beat a good team. (Mt. Blue) battled very well, hats off to them for what they accomplished.”
Chance Tibbetts had two hits for Skowhegan, including a triple. Quintcey McCray had two singles.
The teams met for a third time this season, with the River Hawks winning all three games. Skowhegan beat the Cougars 12-2 on April 30 and 5-3 on May 16.
“I loved the fight,” Dippner said. “We’re a super young team. We have one senior…I think we’re close, I think we’re getting there. We’ve got a passionate group, with 12 juniors coming back next year. I look forward to the offseason to get bigger, stronger and faster.”
Jayden Meader had a double for Mt. Blue, while Hayden Dippner added a single.
Dave Dyer – 621-5640
ddyer@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @Dave_Dyer
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