FARMINGTON – Zach Lavoie hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to give Brunswick a 5-4 victory over Mt. Blue in an Eastern Maine Class A baseball quarterfinal Wednesday at Hippach Field.

No. 5 Brunswick improved to 11-6 and advanced to the regional semifinals. No. 4 Mt. Blue ended its season 11-6.

Brunswick has plenty of experience in one-run games. The Dragons played nine in the regular season and were 6-3 in those games.

“We have had a lot of close games this season,” Brunswick Coach Bill Ridge said. “Every day in practice, we work on getting the runner home from third with less than two outs. When our kids go to the plate in that situation, they have a plan.”

Lavoie didn’t hesitate, driving the first pitch from relief pitcher Bradley Jackson to left field to drive in Kyle Franklin with the go-ahead run. Franklin opened the inning with a single to right, moved to second base on a groundout and stole third.

Brunswick led 4-1 before the Cougars rallied with two runs in the bottom of the sixth and tied the game on an RBI single by Cam Abbott in the seventh.

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Mt. Blue ace Jimmy Neal went six innings, allowing six hits and three walks while striking out three.

Left-hander Luke Carter pitched seven innings for Brunswick before giving way to Alex Emery in the eighth. Carter threw just 85 pitches and struck out six, walked one and gave up seven hits.

“Carter had us off balance for most of the game,” Mt. Blue Coach Dan Stefanilo said. “We could have folded when we were down three runs, but our kids made a great comeback just like they have all year.”

Clint Lowe ignited Mt. Blue’s sixth-inning rally with a leadoff double to right field. Dylan Vining followed with a bunt single, putting runners at the corners.

Vining stole second and he and Lowe scored on RBI grounders by Neal and Andrew Pratt.

Mt. Blue had an opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the seventh after scoring the tying run, but Blake Hart was tagged out at the plate on a failed squeeze play with one out.

“It’s a play we have run six or seven times this season and been successful on,” Stefanilo said. “This time it went a different way.”

In addition to a solid outing on the mound, Carter was impressive at the plate with two hits, including a two-run single in the fifth to give the Dragons a 3-1 lead.

 


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