WISCASSET

With Randy Ridley’s Lisbon High School baseball team holding a 9-7 advantage in the sixth inning against Wiscasset on Monday, the coach had a tough decision to make.

The Wolverines had runners on the corners, two outs, and Wiscasset clean-up hitter Chandler Longfellow was coming to the plate.

Does Ridley dare walk the Wolverines slugger, who had doubled in a run earlier? Thus putting the tying run in scoring position and the winning run on base?

Or, have freshman pitcher Ryley Austin take his chances?

Ridley chose to walk Longfellow and load the bases, a move that looked brilliant after Austin escaped the inning unscathed for a 9-7 Lisbon win.

The victory gives the ’Hounds a 5-2 record with a home date against Winthrop today at 4:30 p.m. Wiscasset fell to 3-4 and visits Winthrop on Wednesday.

Ridley was confident in his decision, especially after Austin retired Tyler Bailey on a hard-hit groundball for an inning-ending force out.

“I have a lot of respect for Chandler, and I wasn’t going to give him the chance to beat us,” said Ridley. “I asked the kids, ‘do you want to pitch to him?’ They all agreed to put him on and get the next kid out. I wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t have confidence in Ryley and the players behind him to make the play.”

“Chandler is a great hitter, and I had confidence in Tyler (Bailey) coming up in that situation, and he hit the ball hard and (Kyle) Bourget made a great play up the middle to get the out,” said Wiscasset coach Mike Bowles. “They made some great plays today.”

“I thought it was a smart decision because I really didn’t want to pitch to him,” said Austin, who pitched three solid innings of relief, with two hits, two walks and no earned runs allowed.

Bounce back

When Wiscasset and Lisbon opened the season at Lisbon Falls on April 25, the Wolverines and their first-year coach were still getting to know each other.

The result was a 10-0 Greyhounds win.

This time around, the Wolverines showed their grit. After falling behind 3-0 in the first and trailing 3-1 in the third, Wiscasset put together a five-run frame for a 6-3 lead. Longfellow picked up an RBI on a groundball, Nate Howard walked to force in a run, Dylan McMahon had an RBI single, and Matt Craig capped the uprising with a two-run single.

“We really wanted to play better against them this time, and we showed that we are a good team that works well together,” said Craig, who was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored.

However, Lisbon answered.

After batting around in the first, the Greyhounds brought 10 runners to the plate in the fourth. Joe Philbrick lashed a two-run single to tie the game, and a Wiscasset throwing error gave Lisbon a 7-6 lead.

“We like to dig ourselves a hole,” said Austin. “We knew Wiscasset would be improved, and we just wanted to do the same things we did the first time and throw strikes.”

Austin relieved starter RJ Sargent (three innings, seven hits, two walks, one strikeout) and settled his team down.

Lisbon claimed a 9-6 lead in the sixth against Wiscasset hurler Tyler Bailey (3.1 innings, seven hits, one strikeout). Philbrick (3-for-4, two runs scored, three RBIs) and Brett Gravel (3-for-3, one run scored) singled to begin the frame. An error loaded the bases, and a flyball by Tyler Halls dropped to score one run, followed by a fielder’s choice RBI groundball by Troy Galarneau.

Wiscasset came right back, as Daren Wood singled to drive in Craig to get his team to 9-7.

“That is a vastly improved Wiscasset team, and I knew they were young that first time, with a new coach,” said Ridley. “Mike has done a heck of job with that team and has them going in the right direction. They will be a force in the playoffs.”

“From the first game on, it is night and day,” said Bowles. “We never gave up.”

Lisbon, which left 13 runners on base, threatened in the seventh, loading the bases on singles by Tucker Brannnon, Philbrick and Gravel. But, Bailey pitched out of the jam.

Ridley brought in ace pitcher Bourget for the seventh. Singles by Wiscasset’s Nate Howard and Craig put two runners on with one out, but Bourget picked up a strikeout and a groundball to end it.

“I feel that was a compliment when Randy brought in Bourget to close things out,” said Bowles, whose squad also struggled with runners in scoring position, leaving nine on base. “Our downfall continues to be not hitting with runners in scoring position. It is those little things that have cost us. We could be 5-2, even 6-1, but we are 3-4 and hoping to get better.”

Bourget was 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored for Lisbon, while Wood finished 2-for-3 for Wiscasset.