BATH – Brandon Seubert struck out nine in five innings, Tim Bickford and Cam Morrell each drove in three runs, and Mt. Ararat scored seven times in the second inning to beat Morse 15-4 in a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference baseball opener Wednesday.

The game was called after the sixth inning because of the 10-run rule.

The game also marked the return of Bruce Kingdon, the longtime Mt. Ararat coach who left the profession in 1996 and had the school’s baseball field named in his honor.

“I’ve been away for a while,” said Kingdon, “and I hoped I hadn’t forgotten anything. But I told the kids they were ready, and to just play hard and play smart.”

Mt. Ararat scored three runs in the top of the first off Blaine Hunt. Morrell drove in the first run with a long double to left, Bickford followed with a single, and two more runs came across on groundouts.

After Seubert struck out the side in the bottom of the inning, the first nine Eagles reached base in the second as Mt. Ararat stretched its lead to 10-0.

Bickford doubled home a pair of runs, Torrey Charnouk (RBI) and Elliot Swan singled, and three walks, an error and a catcher’s interference made it a long inning for Hunt.

Morse scored in the bottom of the inning on a Garrett Maddon single and a double steal, then made it 10-2 in the third on an RBI double by B.J. Ray after Hunt retired the side in the top of the inning.

The teams traded runs in the fourth, Ryan Greene singling in Matt Harris (single) for Mt. Ararat, and Hunt doubling and later scoring on a groundout by his brother, Wade.

The Shipbuilders continued to peck away and made it 11-4 on a Caleb Edmondson single and an outfield error in the fifth, but Blaine Hunt was replaced after walking four batters for a Mt. Ararat run in the sixth.

Mt. Ararat scored three more after reliever Dave Mitchell took over.

Morse went down in order against Nick Karkos in the bottom of the sixth to end the game early on the 10-run rule.

“I felt good,” Seubert said as he iced his right arm after the game. “I threw a lot of fastballs since it was the first game, and I wanted to get a good feel for it. It was a good way to start the season.”

“For the first time out, I can’t be anything but pleased,” Kingdon said. “We swung the bats well, got good pitching and played good defense.”

“We were a little nervous,” Morse Coach Garrett Alson said, “and we needed to be ready from the get-go. We talked beforehand of trying to score a run an inning, but giving up seven runs in an inning changes everything.

“Blaine (Hunt) needed to get his innings in, so we left him in, and he was able to work through it and settle down and get some confidence.”