OLD ORCHARD BEACH — Jack Davenport pitched a no-hitter to lead Freeport to a 1-0 win over Old Orchard Beach in a Western Maine Conference baseball game Saturday afternoon at The Ballpark.
Davenport, a senior right-hander, struck out 13 while issuing just one walk and working around two errors as Freeport, a Class B school, dealt Class C Old Orchard Beach just its second loss of the season.
“I wasn’t focused on the no-hitter or whatever, I was just focused on getting the win for my team because it was a big win,” said Davenport. “(The win) gives us a lot of (Heal) points and confidence.”
Davenport cruised through a 1-2-3 seventh inning on 10 pitches, with a strikeout looking, a groundball back to the mound and a strikeout swinging.
“(Davenport) kept us off balance today,” said Old Orchard Beach Coach Tom LaChance. “He wasn’t overbearing like I’ve seen him before, but he did a great job mixing (his pitches).”
He also was extremely efficient, needing only 78 pitches.
“(Only 78 pitches) is unbelievable. And 13 strikeouts. Mathematically, that shouldn’t work,” said Freeport Coach Bill Ridge.
It was the second shutout of the season for Davenport, who beat Lake Region 2-0 in the season opener.
“This was probably my best (start) this year,” said Davenport. “I was confident with all my pitches and they weren’t catching up to (my fastball), so I had to keep pounding to get the win.”
Davenport also went 1 for 3 at the plate with a first-inning triple.
With the game scoreless and two outs in the fourth inning, Freeport catcher Colby Wagner lined a double into the gap in right-center. Josh Burke drilled the next pitch over the center fielder’s head for another double, scoring Wagner for the lone run of the game.
Wagner and Caleb Rice each had two hits. Freeport (3-4) finished with six hits off OOB pitchers Dylan Creswell and Logan Melnik.
“They kept us off balance pretty well, we couldn’t really get the bats going,” said Ridge. “But Jack threw unbelievably, so it didn’t matter.”
Old Orchard Beach (5-2) had its best opportunity in the bottom of the fourth. Sam Custeau worked a two-out walk and Jon Gillis reached on an error to put runners on first and second. But Davenport struck out Jake Maloney swinging to escape the jam.
Creswell, the starting pitcher for the Seagulls, tweaked his biceps on a swing in the bottom of the first. He tried to go out for the second, but after one pitch LaChance did not like what he saw and pulled Creswell.
“(Creswell set his pride aside) and said ‘Coach, I need to be out (of the game),'” said LaChance. “I commend him on that.”
Melnik entered in relief and was terrific, allowing just five hits an no walks while striking out three.
The game took 1 hour and 18 minutes to complete.
“Yeah, that was probably the quickest (game) I have thrown,” said Davenport. “It was definitely a good game.”
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