WESTBROOK — Cheverus High, which occupied the No. 1 ranking at times this spring, finished at the top of the Western Class A Heal points standings by beating Westbrook 6-2 in eight innings in a Telegram League baseball game Tuesday at Olmsted Field.
Tied 2-2 through the regulation seven innings, Cheverus (14-2) scored four runs in the eighth to drop Westbrook to No. 2 as the regular season ended.
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The Stags used a victory against No. 4 Deering last Friday and now this one to overtake the Blue Blazes (14-2) for first.
“It feels pretty good,” said Cheverus Coach Mac McKew. “We knew we had some talent at the start of the year.”
More than a game may have been lost for Westbrook. Scott Heath, who hasn’t allowed an earned run all season, left the mound after feeling a twinge in his elbow in the second inning.
After issuing a walk, Heath motioned to the bench. After talking to Coach Mike Rutherford, Heath went to the bench and re-entered the game the next inning in right field.
Heath, a left-hander, has a 5-0 record.
“Scott felt a twinge in the first inning,” said Rutherford. “He said his elbow was a little sore after beating Deering on May 21. That’s why we held him out a start. He’s never had any elbow soreness before. We’ll just have to see how it plays out.”
The prospect of Heath not being able to pitch in the playoffs would be a huge blow to Westbrook’s state championship hopes.
“Scott leaving could have changed the complexion of the game,” said McKew.
The Blazes replaced Heath with Sean Murphy, a 6-foot-5 right-hander.
“Murphy’s not exactly chopped liver, but you could see a little life go out of Westbrook,” said McKew. “(But) Murphy pitched well for them.”
“Murph kept us in the game. He pitched great,” said Rutherford.
The Stags got their own outstanding pitching effort from left-hander Harry Ridge.
Facing the Blazes and Heath, Ridge said he felt nervous before the game.
After giving up four hits and a run through three innings, Ridge didn’t allow a hit over the next three innings before being relieved by freshman Mitchell Powers.
“I just tried to throw first-pitch strikes and pound the zone,” said Ridge. “It’s been a while since Cheverus has been No. 1 going into the playoffs. We knew we have the talent. It was just a matter of everyone coming together.”
After walking Murphy in the seventh, Ridge was taken out in favor of Powers.
“I wanted Harry to pitch to Murphy, lefty vs. lefty,” said McKew.” “If he had retired Murphy, I would have kept him in the game.
“Harry didn’t want to come out, but I wanted Powers because he throws strikes and Westbrook had righties coming up. Ridge pitched a heck of a game.”
The Blazes took a 1-0 lead in the first, but Cheverus tied it in the second on Peter Gwilym’s sacrifice fly to center, scoring Joey Royer, who reached on an error and moved around on a walk and a fielder’s choice.
The Stags took a 2-1 lead in the fifth when Gwilym blooped a single to right, went to second and third on a groundout and a fly to right.
He scored when Peter Potthoff dumped a single to left.
Westbrook tied it in the bottom of the seventh when Murphy walked, went to second on an infield error and scored on Jake Gardiner’s base hit up the middle.
Cheverus sent nine men to the plate in scoring four runs to win it in the eighth.
Potthoff singled sharply to left-center and was sacrificed to second. Two walks, one intentional, then loaded the bases. Jack Bushey drove in one run with a sacrifice fly. A second scored on an error and Spencer Cooke delivered two more with a single through the middle.
As the top two seeds for the Western Class A playoffs, Cheverus and Westbrook will meet for the Telegram League championship at 1 p.m. Saturday at The Ballpark in Old Orchard Beach.
The regional quarterfinals will start June 9 with the higher seeds hosting games.
Staff Writer Tom Chard can be contacted at 791-6419 or at: tchard@pressherald.com
Twitter: Twitter.com/TomChardPPH
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