YARMOUTH — Mike Best did it with his bat and then with his glove.

Best, the No. 9 hitter in Cape Elizabeth’s lineup, grounded a two-out, two-run single as the Capers rallied for three runs in the top of the sixth inning against Yarmouth. Then, he preserved the victory by robbing Tyler Waaler of a winning home run in the bottom of the seventh to give the Capers a 4-3 win in a Western Maine Conference baseball game.

It was a typical game between these two Western Class B teams.

“Every time we play Yarmouth, it seems to be one or two-run game either way,” Cape Elizabeth Coach Andrew Wood. “They could have won 5-1 and we could have won 5-1.”

It was the second time in the last 10 days the two teams played each other. Both teams spent part of last week’s spring break at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Florida.

“They went to Florida, (and) we went to Florida, so were both very well prepared for this game,” Yarmouth Coach Marc Halsted said. “It wasn’t the first time out for either one of us. They hit the ball well. We hit the ball well.”

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Still, it took three innings for hitters from either team to string together enough hits to score.

The Capers (1-1) opened the scoring in the top of the fourth. With one out, Brendan Tinsman was hit by a pitch, stole second and came home when Bryce Hewitt blooped a single down the left-field line.

The Clippers (1-1) took a 3-1 lead in the fifth. With one out, Conor O’Donnell slapped an opposite-field single to left. Jack Snyder followed with a hit-and-run single through the right side to put base runners at the corners.

Snyder stole second to give Yarmouth runners at second and third, but his base-running gaffe later in the inning resulted in the Clippers’ first run.

As Connor Lainey was drawing a two-out walk to load the bases, Snyder unexpectedly broke for third, changing his direction as catcher Matt Riggle threw the baseball to third baseman Matt Denison. O’Donnell had broken for the plate as Snyder drew near, and eluded Riggle’s sweep tag following Denison’s throw home to tie the game.

C.J. Cawley and Matt Ingalls followed with back-to-back singles to make it 3-1.

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Cape Elizabeth’s game-winning rally also started with one out.

The Capers loaded the bases on singles by Tinsman and Denison, and a walk to Hewitt. Aaron Dubieski drove in one with an infield hit before Best gave the Capers the lead.

“We got the right guys up in the right situations,” Wood said, “and Mike Best came up with the big hit with two outs.”

Tinsman, a freshman, earned the victory. He allowed seven hits over the final 32/3 innings.

The Clippers came close to pulling out the win in the bottom of the seventh. After Ingalls reached base on a fielder’s choice, Best, with his back up against the right-field fence, reached up to snag Waaler’s fly ball to end the game.

“We were literally a couple of inches away from winning the ball game,” Halsted said.


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