WELLS — Wells shortstop Dan Quint is capable of igniting his team’s offense from the leadoff spot with his speed, but as he showed Friday against Cape Elizabeth, he also has some power in his bat.
Quint started the bottom of the first inning with a home run, then capped a four-run outburst in the fifth inning by driving home two runs with a ground-rule double as Wells defeated Cape Elizabeth 9-4 in a Western Maine Conference baseball game Friday afternoon.
Quint attempted to bunt for a hit on the first pitch thrown by Cape Elizabeth starter Nate Ingalls but fouled it off. He sent Ingalls’ next pitch over the fence in left field to put Wells up 1-0.
“I tried bunt (on the) first pitch, didn’t get it down, so I had to change my approach and it worked out,” said Quint.
“He’s that type of hitter. He has a ton of speed, he just wants to get us started,” said Wells Coach Todd Day.
Cape Elizabeth (8-5) struck back with three runs in the second inning. Marshall Peterson drove home the go-ahead run with a double to center field, scoring Bryce Hewitt.
But Wells (8-5) tied it in the fourth, then broke the game open in the fifth.
Nick Cousins put the Warriors ahead with a two-run double over the head of center fielder Dylan Roberts. Ingalls, a left-hander, struck out the next batter before he was pulled in favor of right-hander Aaron Dobieski to face the right-handed hitting Quint.
Quint jumped on a fastball and laced a double to left-center, giving Wells a 7-3 lead.
“I was looking first-pitch fastball because he hadn’t thrown all game. I … got it and just drove it,” said Quint.
Ingalls wasn’t helped by his defense, which committed four errors.
“Defensively, we had a couple of routine errors,” said Cape Elizabeth Coach Andrew Wood. “The pitch count comes up, (and I have) to take out the starting pitcher and bring in a sophomore who hasn’t really thrown before.
“The thought there was to bring in a soft-throwing righty who pitches backward a little bit. First-pitch fastball and (Quint) teed off on it. Those were the runs they needed.”
Charlie Bell tossed a complete game for Wells, allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits. The left-hander walked two and struck out three.
“(Bell) got stronger as the game went along,” said Day. “He’s been pitching every other turn. I knew he had six days (of rest), so I let him go a couple extra pitches today.”
Liam Bell had a good day at the plate for Wells, collecting two hits and scoring two runs. Shawn Ramsey knocked in a pair of runs as the designated hitter.
“That was a big win,” said Day, who team began the day ranked sixth in the Western Class B Heal point standings, three spots behind Cape Elizabeth.
Hewitt had two hits and scored twice for the Capers.
Cape Elizabeth was without catcher/pitcher Brendan Tinsman, who is in Arizona for the Perfect Game tournament.
This story was updated on May 24, at 9:15 to correct the location and tournament name attended by Brendan Tinsman.
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