FAIRFIELD — For a team that has entrenched itself in the playoff picture such as Cony, winning a crisp, well-pitched and well-played game in the field like Wednesday’s nailbiter with Lawrence can be extra satisfying.

For a team trying to battle its way back into Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A playoff contention like Lawrence, which has already been on the short end of too many close games, another well-played loss is small consolation.

Kolbe Merfeld outdueled Cody Martin and Justin Rodrigue drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth to plate Tyler Tardiff with the game’s only run in a 1-0 victory for the Rams.

Cony improved to 6-3 overall and 4-0 in one-run games. Lawrence dropped to 2-8 overall and 0-4 in games decided by two runs or less.

Merfeld struggled early on the mound but kept the Bulldogs off the board long enough to get into a rhythm and retire the last 10 hitters.

“I can’t say enough good things about him as a sophomore,” Cony coach Don Plourde said of Merfeld. “He’s a pitcher. He gets out there and he has a plan. He keeps hitters off-balance and does a great job of keeping a good tempo. He’s a dirt dog.”

Martin’s outing was mostly the inverse of Merfeld’s — dominating early, walking the tightrope late.

The senior southpaw allowed one hit and fanned 10 through the first five innings, striking out the side in the first and fourth innings.

“I was really pleased with Cody’s pitching today and our defense played very well,” Lawrence coach Rusty Mercier said. “Last five or six games we’ve really had trouble scoring runs and it was apparent today.”

Merfeld struck out seven while yielding five hits and three walks, but he set down 12 in a row not counting an intentional walk in the fifth inning.

“I’ve just been working on my curveball a lot. It hadn’t been working early in the season,” Merfeld said. “It definitely showed on the field. I was placing it where I wanted it to be.”

Martin retired 10 in a row from the last out of the second through the fifth. He started to look vulnerable in the sixth, allowing two walks (one intentional) and a bunt single that put him in a bases loaded, one-out pickle. He escaped by getting Tayler Carrier to hit into a 6-3 double play.

“Our plan was to get his pitch count up, get him pitching from the stretch, and he did,” Plourde said. “But you’ve got to tip your cap; he’s definitely one of the best in the conference, if not in Class A.”

“We were taking pitches, taking what we could and just picking away at the end,” Merfeld said.

Merfeld struck out the side in the fourth, then worked around a Tyler Lewis single and an intentional walk and escaped Lawrence’s last real threat in the fifth. Nice diving catches by Mitchell Caron at third base and Tardiff in right field also helped keep him out of trouble.

“I was getting tired, but once we started getting baserunners on, the adrenaline started pumping and I was ready to get back out there,” he said.

Martin (12 strikeouts, eight walks) worked around two more walks in the seventh. Merfeld led off the seventh with a base hit just inside the third base line that provoked a brief argument from Mercier. After Tardiff walked, Martin struck out Reid Shostak looking, then got Carrier to bounce into a force play at third. He walked Caron to load the bases, then fell behind Rodrigue, 3-0, before battling back to a full count. The payoff pitch was high, forcing in Tardiff with the game-winning run.

“He had three good at-bats today. He really worked the count,” Plourde said of Rodrigue, who had a single and two walks for the Rams.

Added Mercier: “Cody tired. He was up around 125 pitches, which is a lot. We’ve just got to score runs. You can’t win if you don’t score runs.”

The Bulldogs’ best chance to score may have been in the first, when Merfeld allowed two hits and two walks, But Martin, who led off with a single, was caught stealing third, and Merfeld fielded Spencer Folsom’s one-hopper back to the mound to end the bases-loaded threat.

Evan Grard led off Lawrence’s second with a double but never made it to third as Merfeld wiggled out of it with a strikeout, ground out and fly out. Derek Bowen doubled with one out in the third, but Merfeld stranded him there with a fly out and ground out.

“He struggled a little bit with first-pitch strikes early in the game. He was pitching behind. Then in innings three through eight, he got ahead of hitters and started hitting corners,” Plourde said.

Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638

rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @RAWmaterial33

Copy the Story Link