NORTH ANSON — Monmouth Academy’s Gage Cote had only thrown two innings prior to Wednesday’s game at Carrabec. Still, when coach Eric Palleschi called on Cote with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the third inning, it was nothing new.
“Coach puts me in when it’s bases loaded or nobody out,” Cote said. “I knew if I threw strikes, my team would back me up.”
Cote got out of the jam with a lazy popup back to himself on the mound, and then pitched well the rest of the way. Cote’s 4 1/3 innings of solid relief were a big reason the Mustangs went home with an 8-5 win.
Monmouth improved to 5-1, while Carrabec is 3-3.
Cote came on in relief of starter Nick Sanborn, who gave up three runs to the Cobras in the first inning.
“(Cote’s) thrown a little bit for us,” Palleschi said. “Sanborn just didn’t have his stuff today, but Gage came in and pitched well.”
Cote struck out three and walked two, and allowed just one earned run while helping Monmouth maintain the lead it took in the third inning.
“I told Coach (Palleschi) I was ready. My arm feels good, too,” Cote, whose best pitch was his fastball,” said.
“He was just a good pitcher,” Carrabec coach Corey Paquette said of Cote. “Most of our order was connecting with it, we just couldn’t get the big hit.”
After the Cobras took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first on RBI singles by Dylan Willette, Hunter Fernald and Tyler Reichart, the Mustangs came back with three runs in the top of the second. Monmouth’s rally started when Nick Devinsky reached on a two-out error. After a walk to Matt Foulke, Avery Pomerleau singled to score a run. A wild pitch and two more errors led to a pair of Monmouth runs.
Carrabec’s defensive struggles continued in the third, when three more errors contributed to a four-run inning for the Mustangs. The big hit was a bases loaded double by Sanborn, but two errors on the play allowed all three runners and Sanborn to score, giving Monmouth a 7-3 lead.
“That was uncharacteristic. We’ve been playing some pretty tight baseball,” Paquette said.
After Carrabec got a run back in the fifth inning on a Reichart single, Monmouth answered when Sanborn singled to drive in a run in the sixth. Carrabec scored a run in the seventh when Willette doubled, went to third on an error, and scored on a William Crawford groundout.
“Carrabec is not the Carrabec of old. They’re doing a heck of a job, playing baseball the right way. They hit. They play defense. It’s good baseball,” Palleschi said.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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