BATH

Sports is a funny business sometimes.

Figure, a team struggles to find consistency during a long baseball season, but somehow, someway, finds a way to beat a rival, not once, not twice, but three times!

Smith-Tobey is the very definition of seemingly owning a team. Coming into Saturday, the American Legion Zone 2 squad from Bath had one win through 15 games, an 8-1 defeat of Highland Green in Topsham earlier this season.

Then came Saturday, as Smith-Tobey swept a doubleheader from its Topsham rivals, taking the opener, 6-3, and the nightcap, 7-4, to improve to 3-14.

On the other side, Highland Green fell to 6-12 and will enter the playoffs as the No. 7 seed in Zone 2, with the destination Auburn Suburban Field against No. 2 Rogers Post today at 5:30 p.m.

“We were aggressive all around, our pitching, base-running, which hasn’t been there all year really came through today,” said Smith-Tobey coach Brandon Murray.

Smith-Tobey received a pair of solid pitching performances. Lefty Jacob Cressey, who won the first meeting with Highland, worked around trouble throughout his five innings of work. And in the second game, Daren Wood was solid over his five innings.

“Jacob, we asked for five innings from him, and he let us know when he was getting tired, and Daren stepped up and was ready to go,” said Murray. “Daren battled for five innings. Everything seemed to come together today.”

“It is nice to come out here and have a lot of fun,” said Wood, who fanned three, walked three, permitted five hits and just one earned run. “Our pitching today really helped, and we had a lot of two-out base hits.”

For Bob Neron’s Highland Green squad, getting on base wasn’t the problem on Saturday. It was the inability to hit with runners in scoring position. In the two contests, the Ducks were just 4-of-25 with runners in scoring position.

“Hitting with runners in scoring position has killed us all year long,” said Neron. “Not too long ago, we were struggling to get men on base. Now, we are getting them on base, which is good. But, you can’t go 4-for-25.”

Game 1

It was a five-run third inning that did the trick for Smith-Tobey in the opener. Leading 1-0 after plating an unearned run in the second, Grant Hefler singled, stole second, moved to third on a passed ball and trotted home on a ground out by Andrew LaCavera. Wood tripled with two outs, and an RBI single by Austin Magliozzi made for a 3-0 contest.

Highland Green pitcher Jake O’Neill (four innings, five strikeouts, three walks, four hits, six runs, two earned) had a chance to escape further damage, but an error kept the inning going and allowed two more runs to score, and Jackson Walker plated another run with a single for a 6-0 Smith- Tobey lead.

Cressey shut Highland Green out for four innings despite allowing five hits. He escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the second, and the Ducks scored two runs in the fifth to draw to 6-2.

Hefler relieved and survived an error and a base hit by Kyle Brennan in the sixth, and Highland Green put two runners on in the seventh, with a sacrifice fly ball by Elliot Bowie scoring Kaileb Hawkes.

But, Hefler earned the save, combining with Cressey on two strikeouts and 11 hits allowed.

Wood was 2-for-3 with triple, double and run scored in the win, while Nick Merrill and Cam Cox each singled twice for Highland Green.

Game 2

The second contest had a familiar feel to it. Smith- Tobey used a walk (Isaiah Cogswell), two hits (Jackson Walker, LaCavera two-run single) and an error to score three second-inning runs, and James LaCavera drove in Magliozzi with an RBI single in the third for a 4-0 lead.

Highland Green scored a run in the fourth (Ryan Glass trotted home on a double play), but Smith-Tobey answered with a three-run fifth. Andrew LaCavera drove in two more runs with a two-out single to cap the inning and give the hosts a 7- 1 advantage.

Wood was relieved by Taylor Shaw to start the sixth. He walked Bowie, Haven Cutko (2-for-3) singled and Hunter Lohr walked to load the bases with no outs. Cox, who was 4-for-8 in the doubleheader, singled in a run, and a sacrifice fly by Alex Larson scored Cutko to draw the Ducks to 7-3.

In the seventh, Highland Green added a run as Sam Alexander (2-for-3) scored on a wild pitch. But, with the tying run at the plate, Shaw retired the final two Duck hitters on routine fly balls to close out the 7-4 win.

For Highland Green, it is another matchup with Rogers Post, a team Neron’s Mt. Ararat High School players are very familiar with. Edward Little knocked the Eagles out of the postseason with a walk-off semifinal win, and Highland Green has battled Rogers tough in a pair of close Zone 2 setbacks this season.

“You have heard me say, ‘we’re young, we’re young, we’re young,’ but now we have to start stepping up,” said Neron. “Now our work is cut out for us, but it is a single elimination competition and anything can happen. We are a hit away from being right there. It just makes it tougher now.”

Smith-Tobey 6,
Highland Green 3

Game 1, at Kelley Field in Bath
HG — 000 020 1 — 3-11-3
ST — 015 000 X — 6- 7-2
Jake O’Neill, Harper Moutal (5) and
Cam Cox; Jacob Cressey, Grant Hefler
(6) and Daren Wood, Austin Magliozzi
(6).
Double — (ST) Daren Wood.
Triple — (ST) Daren Wood.
Repeat hitters — (HG) Nick Merrill,
Cam Cox; (ST) Daren Wood, Grant
Hefler.

Smith-Tobey 7,
Highland Green 4

Game 2, at Kelley Field in Bath
HG — 000 102 1 — 4- 7-2
ST — 031 030 X — 7-12-2
Ryan Glass, Harper Moutal (6) and
Sam Alexander; Daren Wood, Taylor
Shaw (6) and Austin Magliozzi, Isaiah
Cogswell (4).
Repeat hitters — (HG) Sam Alexander, Haven Cutko, Cam Cox; (ST)
Jackson Walker, Andrew LaCavera,
Grant Hefler, James LaCavera.
Records — Smith-Tobey 3-14; Highland Green 6-12.
Up next for Highland Green — Today
at Rogers Post, Auburn Suburban
Field, 5:30 p.m., quarterfinal.
Note — Smith-Tobey’s season is
completed.