Jared Brooks pitched his third one-hitter of the season to lead second-seeded Cheverus over 10th-ranked Deering 6-1 in a Class A South baseball quarterfinal Thursday .

Brooks spotted his power fastball well and broke off some sharp curves. His first high school no-hitter was five outs away when Brooks made a mistake in judgment.

With Cheverus leading 6-0, Jack Lynch of Deering hit a high pop behind and to the right of the mound. Brooks loudly called for the ball, then at the last moment shouted “You.” The ball dropped untouched by Brooks or shortstop Griffin Watson. Lynch hustled for a 70-foot double.

“I just relied on my defense and multiple times they made incredible plays that were just mind-blowing and I’m lucky to have these kids around me,” Brooks said. “There was that one goof on my part of calling that fly ball too early, but that’s all right. That’s why pitchers get out of the way. I just laughed. All you can do is laugh.”

Cheverus (16-1) will host third-seeded Gorham (15-2) in semifinal at 3 p.m. Saturday.

While Lynch, a senior, eventually scored on a groundout, Brooks struck out 10 and walked three in a 109-pitch outing for his fifth complete game (and Cheverus’ 13th) in his first real varsity season of pitching. Brooks had Tommy John surgery in August 2014. He didn’t pitch as a sophomore and threw just one-third of an inning as a junior.

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Deering starter Colby Dame had five strikeouts through two innings and worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the third.

“He was throwing well,” said Deering Coach Josh Stowell. “He typically keeps us in the game. We’ve just struggled at the plate, not getting big hits with guys on base. That’s kind of been our biggest fault this season and we had some miscues in the field that didn’t help either.”

The Stags scored once in the fourth on a suicide squeeze by Cam Dube to score Justin Ray, who reached third on a double by Rylan Benedict.

“In that situation, sometimes a squeeze is a great momentum-builder and Dube got the job done,” said Cheverus Coach Mac McKew.

Cheverus added five runs in the fifth, with RBI hits from Brooks, Logan McCarthy, and Benedict (2 for 3), a passed ball, and a sacrifice fly from Dube, the No. 9 hitter. Jack Casale (2 for 3, double) got the inning going with a line single.

“Benedict owned the right- field line with those two hits. We got some help from unexpected sources,” McKew said.

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Cheverus’ strong infield defense included back-to-back superior plays by Watson in the fourth. First he went deep into the hole for a chopper and gunned down Riley Bartell on a close play. Then he charged to his left with neat pick on a low grounder.

Steve Craig can be reached at 791-6413 or:

scraig@pressherald.com

Twitter: SteveCCraig


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