NEWPORT — The Cony baseball team may have started slow in its Class B North matchup against Nokomis on Friday afternoon.
But the Rams finished strong.
Cony scored 10 runs in the final three innings to beat the Warriors 13-3.
Kam Douin, Tyler Pelletier, Jordan Benedict and Matt Boston each had two hits for Cony (4-0). Douin and Davis Kibler each had two RBIs. Cony also had strong pitching from Landon Foster, who overcame early struggles to allow two runs on three hits while striking out four in 5 2/3 innings.
“It was a lot of fun,” Douin said. “We had great at-bats, one through nine (in the order). That’s what it’s about, that’s what we want to do. We want to go up, every plate appearance we have and have a great at-bat.”
Nokomis fell to 2-2.
While the Rams were able to pound out 10 hits, it was their work on the base paths that also helped manufacture runs, and played a role in Nokomis’ defensive struggles, as the Warriors made seven errors.
“We work on (baserunning) every day, it’s part of what we do,” Cony head coach Don Plourde said. “It’s a big piece of the game of baseball. You’ve got to touch all four (bases) to get a run. We work on it every day and the kids buy in, and that’s huge.”
Cony struck first, taking a 2-0 lead in the third inning, which included a sacrifice fly from David Frye that plated Lance Theriault from third. Nokomis tied the game in the bottom of the inning, taking advantage of two Cony errors.
Cony took a 3-2 lead on an RBI single from Pelletier in the fourth inning and never looked back. An RBI single by Douin highlighted a three-run inning for the Rams in the fifth to take a 6-2 lead. An RBI single by Trent Hayward helped lengthen Cony’s lead to 8-2 in the sixth.
The Rams sealed the win in the seventh, scoring five runs on five hits, including RBI singles from Douin, Kibler, Benedict and Boston, to take a 13-2 lead.
Foster settled down and found his groove as he went deeper in the game. Parker Morin came on in relief for Foster, giving up a run on two hits in 1 1/3 innings of work.
“(Foster) was dealing,” Douin said. “Got a little rocky, we had some mental mistakes and that’s on us. But he collected himself and pitched a great game.”
“(Foster) bounced back, and that’s the kind of kid he is,” Plourde said. “He’s a winner, he’s a champion. He took the challenge and met it head on and did a fantastic job.”
Aaron Mooers had an RBI double in the bottom of the seventh for Nokomis, and had two of the Warriors’ five hits.
“We lost 13 seniors (from last year), we’ll get (better), a little bit at a time,” Nokomis head coach Jeff Chretien said. “We’ve got a good team, I think we can be a really good team. We’ve got to clean up a few things, but we’ll get there.”
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