SKOWHEGAN — There wasn’t much the Skowhegan baseball team did right in Tuesday’s season opener.
The River Hawks’ second game of the year wasn’t perfect, but it was a vast improvement — enough of one to put the River Hawks in the win column with ease.
Skowhegan claimed a mercy-rule win over Messalonskee on Thursday with an 11-1 victory at Memorial Park. The River Hawks pounced on Messalonskee early and kept the Eagles in check in a game that marked a stark turnaround from a 5-0 loss to Hampden Academy 48 hours earlier.
“This feels good after we gave up five runs unanswered and lost to a team that I think we’re better than skill-wise,” said Skowhegan catcher Brendan Dunlap. “I think we made a lot of mental mistakes and weren’t prepared, but we came back this game, played a lot harder, and our mentality was a lot better.”
Skowhegan’s five-run first inning looked to be nothing special at first. After Jackson Quinn grounded out to the pitcher to begin the bottom half of the frame, No. 2 hitter Noah McMahon hit what appeared to be a double but was instead called an out after he was ruled not to have touched first base.
From there, though, the River Hawks (1-1) mounted a rally. With two runners on, Tyler Annis doubled to deep left to put the home team up 2-0. Annis then scored on a passed ball before Cooper Bardwell doubled in Quintcey McCray to make it 4-0, and Bardwell would score on an error one batter later for the final run of the inning.
“We mixed up the lineup a little bit — nothing drastic because we were planning on mixing it up anyway our first few games — and we attacked the ball a little bit harder,” said Skowhegan head coach Mike LeBlanc. “We were lucky to have a couple of miscues by them and scored some runs early.”
Skowhegan’s Silas Tibbetts throws a pitch against Messalonskee during baseball action Thursday in Skowhegan. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
Messalonskee (0-2) got a run back in the second inning after Skowhegan’s lone error on the afternoon allowed Jack Hammond to score. The game remained 5-1 entering the fourth after Skowhegan put runners in scoring position in the second and third but failed to score on both occasions.
The fourth inning, though, would be a big one for the River Hawks. With the bases loaded and two outs, Garrett Card hit a hard liner down the first-base line toward Hunter McEwen. McEwen couldn’t field it cleanly but was able to knock it down, pick it up and dive to touch first base for the third out.
“I was saying before the game, ‘He plays a great third base; I don’t know why they took him and put him at first base for this game,’ but he showed you why on that play,” said Messalonskee head coach Eric Palin. “He saved two, possibly three runs on that play by stopping that ball.”
In the bottom of the fourth, McMahon made it 6-1 with a deep sacrifice fly that scored Chance Tibbetts. Then, with two outs, Dunlap crushed a two-run home run that easily cleared the fence in left-center field.
“The at-bat before, I had hit it off the end of the bat, and I felt it. I was really disappointed,” Dunlap said. “That one felt a lot better; I couldn’t feel anything coming off the bat. … Right off the bat, I knew it was gone.”
Skowhegan made it 10-1 in the fifth with Tibbetts ripping a single to knock in McCray and Bardwell scoring on an errant throw. Then, in the sixth, the River Hawks enacted the 10-run rule as Dunlap scored on a walk-off balk to end the game.
Silas Tibbetts pitched a solid game for Skowhegan, striking out six batters and allowing just four hits in five innings of work before Brayden Bellerose pitched a scoreless sixth. Aiden Rogers took the loss for Messalonskee, though none of the five runs he allowed in his two innings of work were earned.
Whereas the win was a welcome change in direction for Skowhegan, it was more of the same for Messalonskee following a 9-1 loss Wednesday against Brewer. The Eagles failed to get big hits and struggled in the field, committing four errors that led to the River Hawks scoring eight unearned runs.
“We’re not fielding the ball well right now, and I think it starts there,” Palin said. “It puts extra pressure on our pitchers, and from there, it just snowballs. If we want to beat teams like this, we have to get that cleaned up.”
Although LeBlanc was largely pleased with his team’s efforts, particularly in the field, he pointed out that it was by no means perfect. Even with the early and late offensive firepower, he pointed out the second- and third-inning struggles with runners in scoring positions as room for improvement.
“We still left too many men on base,” LeBlanc said. “They’re a good baseball team, and I expect a little more from them when they get going, but I’m still happy for the most part with the way they played.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
