STANDISH – Patrick McDonough didn’t have his best stuff on Friday afternoon for the Scots, but baseball is a team game.

Matt Burnell, who through the first five games of the Scots season boasted a batting average of .600, bailed out his team with his arm against the Gorham Rams, pitching the final three innings in the 7-3 win in Standish.

“It was very important,” said Burnell about his performance. “There was actually a game earlier this season where I was struggling and (McDonough) came in and bailed me out. I wanted to return the favor.”

Burnell did just that, giving up one run and also forcing across the Scots’ last run in the sixth with a squeeze bunt.

Burnell’s RBI bunt single in the sixth was little more than insurance for the Scots, who used a five-run bottom of the third to take the lead over the Rams and their starter Elliot Spears.

“We just tried to put as many runs on the board as we could,” said Bonny Eagle coach Marc Sawyer. “(Gorham) is a really good team, well coached, and they played hard. We try to take advantage of opportunities when we can.”

The Scots did just that in the bottom of third.

After falling behind 2-0 early thanks to an RBI single by Mat LeClair in the top of the second and an RBI ground out by Speirs in the top of the third, Evan Amell stepped to the plate with the bases loaded for the Scots.

Amell got jammed on a fastball and muscled a chopper down the third base line. Amell, who was hustling down the line all the way, forced an errant throw and beat out the grounder. The wide throw from first allowed Burnell to score all the way from second to tie the score.

Bonny Eagle’s Briar Morin, who had been struggling at the plate thus far, delivered his biggest hit of the season after Amell reached.

Morin lined a single into right field to score Nathan Peasley from third to give the Scots their first lead of the game, 3-2.

“It felt great,” said Morin. “I really needed the RBI to get going again. We got off to a slow start through the first couple of innings. We got a couple of guys on and I came through.”

Thomas Hazelton followed with a single to center to score Amell before Andrew Martell hit a sacrifice fly to right to bring in Morin.

Despite taking a 5-2 lead heading into the top of the fourth, the Scots weren’t in the clear.

Spencer Lapierre led off Gorham’s half of the inning by smacking a double down the third base line off a tiring McDonough.

After forcing Speirs to ground out to short, McDonough was bailed out by his defense and shaky base running by the Rams.

With Lapierre on third, Mark Ridgeway hit a chopper to third and was promptly thrown out at first. Lapierre, however, got caught up between third and home and hesitated before making a break and getting doubled up at home to end the inning.

“That was a huge play for us, we needed that,” said Sawyer, who showed pride in his team for their heads up play in the field, despite the hectic schedule do to rainouts.

The Scots would add their sixth run in the bottom of the fourth after forcing Speirs from the on an RBI single by Peasely.

The Rams pushed across their third and final run in the top of the fifth when Nick Greatorex scored on a Damon Wallace groundout.

Matt Burnell, who pitched three solid innings in relief for the Scots and also had an RBI single, delivers a pitch during the fifth inning of Bonny Eagle’s 6-3 victory. (Photo by Nate Boroyan)
Copy the Story Link