FALMOUTH – Conor Moloney had a perfect game through five innings and settled for a one-hitter as Cape Elizabeth bounced back from its first loss of the season on Thursday to down Falmouth, 8-0, in a Western Maine Class B baseball game here Friday afternoon.

Cape Elizabeth (11-1) jumped on Falmouth (7-4) early and Moloney and his fielders did the rest. Moloney didn’t walk a batter and struck out five. He threw a total of 83 pitches. Moloney set down the first 15 batters he faced, but lost his no-hit bid when Ben Goffin led off the bottom of the sixth by dumping a single into left field.

“It’s not like I struck out a ton of people,” said Moloney, a senior lefthander.

“They hit them right at my fielders, who made the plays. I respect the heck out of my fielders. The outfielders did a great job. I left a few pitches up that Falmouth hit pretty good. Cam Brown was great at shortstop.”

Through four innings, no Falmouth hitter came close to getting a hit. The Capers made routine plays. Brown had three assists at shortstop and Kyle Piscopo had two assists at second.

In the fifth, Mitch Beaulieu hit a drive to center that Rob MacDonald turned and ran back to haul in. The next batter, Nolan Tapley, hit a roller that Brown charged and fired to first base to get Tapley by a step. Moloney got the third out on a strikeout.

Goffin broke up the no-hitter in the sixth but was forced out at second. Moloney struck out the next two batters.

“You have to tip your hat to Moloney and Cape,” said Falmouth Coach Kevin Winship. “He moved the ball in and out and changed speeds effectively. Cape is a top-quality club. We gave them some runs with our errors, but the bottom line is that we didn’t score.”

Brown led off the game with a home run to left field. The Capers got two more runs when the Falmouth left fielder misplayed a fly ball hit deep by Moloney. Cape made it 5-0 in the second on a two-run double by Will Pierce.

Moloney had an RBI single to right to drive in MacDonald to make it 6-0 in the third. Kyle Danielson led off the fifth with a home run to left to make it 7-0 and the Capers got their final run the next inning on another double by Pierce that drove in Brown, who led off with a single.

“When you lose a game, you want to bounce back,” said Cape Coach Chris Hayward. “We took advantage of Yarmouth’s mistakes early. We played a complete game.”

Cape Elizabeth lost to Yarmouth, 8-6, on Thursday after beating them a week earlier.

“I’m not saying I’m glad we lost, but it’s nice to get the pressure of going unbeaten off our backs,” said Moloney. “It’s better to go into the playoffs with a loss.”

Pierce had two doubles and a single to lead the 11-hit Cape attack.

 

Staff Writer Tom Chard can be reached at 791-6419 or at: tchard@pressherald.com