The Gray-New Gloucester Patriots suffered a brutal, 18-6 pounding when they hosted Yarmouth on Monday, May 4, and went into their follow-up match, at Falmouth on Wednesday the 6th, looking to regroup.
While, as G-NG head coach Brad Smith says, the team “played one of their best games of the season” versus the Yachtsmen, they still came up a run short, 3-2. The loss, a “heartbreaker” for the group, dropped them to 3-3.
Smith reports that Falmouth jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first, but Patriots senior co-Captain Thomas Wood evened the tally in the fourth, launching a homer beyond the 375-foot mark in left-center. Both teams had opportunities to pull ahead, Smith said, but solid pitching by Patriot Tyler St. Pierre and Yachtsman Cam Guarino, as well as consistent G-NG defense, kept the score tied until the seventh, when Falmouth scored the game winner on a pass ball.
“Certainly a tough one to lose, but considering how poorly we played against Yarmouth, I have nothing but praise for my club,” said Smith. “All in all, a very solid game against a very solid ball club.”
In their next bout, G-NG fell at York – another one-run defeat. The Wildcats never grabbed the winning run until the bottom of the seventh.
JT Magno made an impressive pitching debut for the Patriots that day, holding York to a mere six hits. The team likewise played more solid defense, stranding 12 Wildcats on base by the end.
John Henry Villanueva hashed three hits on the day, and St. Pierre two, to lead the G-NG offense.
The Patriots’ offensive drought continued into their Monday, May 11, home game versus Cape Elizabeth. Wood looked solid again, logging three hits, including an RBI-double in the seventh, but the team’s offense overall stranded eight men on base.
That was the story of the day, according to Smith. “Our hit production, for better or worse, is at the top of the order. We get guys on base, but can’t seem to get that base hit to drive them home.”
“This is a cohesive unit,” said Smith, “and this string of losses strengthens our resolve to get that elusive ‘W.’”
G-NG travels to Fryeburg on Friday for a 4 p.m. contest with the Raiders.
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