CAPE ELIZABETH – Dillon Dresser threw a four-hitter to lead No. 6 Falmouth to a 2-1 victory against Cape Elizabeth in a Western Class B baseball quarterfinal at Holman Field Thursday.

Dresser, a left-hander who will play baseball at Bates College in Lewiston next season, beat the third-seeded Capers for the second time in three starts this season as the sixth-seeded Yachtsmen (11-6) advanced to a regional semifinal Saturday against the winner of today’s game between Maranacook and Greely.

Falmouth held a 2-0 lead in the top of the sixth when play was halted at 4:40 p.m. because of a thunderstorm. Players from both teams spent most of the delay in the nearby middle school, and play didn’t resume until 7:25.

“I’m happy with the umpires trying to do their job the right way,” Cape Elizabeth Coach Chris Hayward said. “They did a fantastic job (because) all the kids from Falmouth and Cape wanted to play.”

When play resumed, Cam Brown replaced Cape starter Will LeBlond, but Falmouth Coach Kevin Winship decided to stay with Dresser.

“I went to him and asked, ‘How do you feel?’ and he said ‘Coach, I want the ball,’” Winship said. “It was his game to win or lose. He came out and won it, and I thought he pitched fantastic.”

“It was my last playoff game and I wasn’t going to come out,” Dresser said.

Dresser, who struck out four and walked two, limited the Capers (12-5) to five base runners through the first six innings.

“I’ve been playing against (Cape) my whole life, and I thought I mixed my pitches well,” he said. “I was trying to get ahead (in the count) whenever possible, using all pitches to get ahead just trying to get up in the count.”

The Yachtsmen, meanwhile, took advantage of two of the few mistakes the Capers made to open up a 2-0 lead.

Falmouth scored an unearned run in the fourth.

Ben Goffin led off with a double into the left-field corner that just eluded a diving Jack Barber. With one out, Grayson Beressi hit a grounder to third, and Goffin scored when Derek Roberts’ throw across the diamond sailed out of play.

The Yachtsmen made it 2-0 in the fifth when Dresser drew a two-out walk and scored on Matt MacDowell’s triple into the gap in right-center field.

The Capers’ best chance to score before the lengthy delay came when Chris Tinsman led off the bottom of the fifth with a single and Pat Tyler reached on an error. They moved up on Chris Robichaw’s sacrifice, but Dresser struck out pinch-hitter Seth Dobieski and induced Roberts to bounce out to first to end the threat.

“I thought that was the momentum switch when he shut them down there,” Winship said.

But the Yachtsmen had to wait more than three hours before they could celebrate. They also had to survive a seventh-inning rally by the Capers.

Tinsman led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk and moved to second on Tyler’s grounder to second.

With two outs, Ben Berman walked and Roberts lined a single up the middle to drive in the run, but Dresser closed it out by knocking down Brown’s hard shot up the middle and throwing him out on a close play at first base.

“They played better defense than us today, just a little bit better defense,” Hayward said. “Their balls found a hole and our three or four hard-hit balls didn’t.”

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:

pbetit@pressherald.com

Twitter: PaulBetitPPH

 

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