LEWSITON

He did it for Lisbon High School. Now he’s doing it for the Pastime Club American Legion baseball team.

In Wednesday’s American Legion Zone 2 title game against rival Rogers Post — the fourth meeting of the season between the two sides — coach Jacob Brown handed the ball to his ace Kyle Bourget for the third time.

For the third time, it paid off.

The former Greyhounds’ standout was dominant in eight innings of work on the mound, fanning 11 batters and throwing just 92 pitches en route to an 11-1 mercy-rule win — a win that capped off a perfect Zone 2 season and gave Pastime its 21st victory in a row.

“He’s our leader,” Brown said of Bourget. “We know what we’re going to get out of him. He may not always have his best stuff, but he’s going to compete.”

Unfortunately for Rogers Post (17-4), Bourget had his stuff on Wednesday.

The righty shook off his lone walk of the evening in the top of the first and got into a strike-out groove quickly. He recorded at least one strikeout in seven of his eight innings of work and fanned at least two batters in a frame three times.

“I located my fastball well,” Bourget said. “It started off going good. Once I started to hit it a little and time it, I started working on my curveball. That’s when I started getting most of my strikeouts.”

A pair of doubles in the fourth inning led to Rogers Post’s lone run of the game, but the Pastime (21-0) lead was never in danger. They were two of just six hits Bourget gave up.

“He hit his spots,” Rogers Post coach Dave Jordan said of Bourget. “They did a great job of backing him up defensively and he was on his game today.”

Bourget has been a big part of Pastime’s perfect season, eating up innings and saving arms in the bullpen like he did Wednesday. It was the third game of the week for the team, and Brown said the fresh postseason arms will be crucial as his squad looks to remain perfect.

Though, Bourget isn’t thinking of it that way.

“I mean, every team wants to be undefeated,” he said. “But we just come every day, play hard, work hard, and just try to keep it rolling. Keep winning.”

Like many games before it this season, Wednesday’s title win wasn’t just a win — it was an emphatic one. Pastime is used to the success, even when its ace isn’t on the hill.

Bourget, who graduated from Lisbon last spring, credits some of the winning to strong team chemistry. Current Lisbon players Lucas Francis and Nick Lerette are also on a roster that simply gets along.

“It’s nice to have a couple Lisbon kids,” Bourget said. “Not just myself, but a couple of younger kids that are on the team too. Lewiston and Lisbon kids are mixing well, and the team’s better because of it.”

Early and often

Pastime wasted little time giving Bourget run support in the bottom of the first, jumping out to a 5-0 lead and forcing 30 pitches from Rogers Post starter Tyler Blanchard.

After Gage Cote (single) and Brock Belanger (walk) reached base in the one and two spots, Hunter Landry and Austin Wing each followed with RBIs to make the score 2- 0. Then, two more walks made way for Eddie Turgeon, who smacked a single into center field and cleared the bases after an error.

Bourget helped himself in the fifth when he roped a two- RBI double down the left-field line to cap off a three-run frame that ousted Blanchard (76 pitches) from the game. Two more Pastime runs in the following inning (two-RBI double by Wing) gave it a 10-1 lead heading into what is normally the final frame of a seven-inning game.

“I think what it came down to is we just didn’t make enough plays early on,” Jordan said. “It kind of set the tone. They jumped us, and we just couldn’t recover.”

Landry activated the mercy rule with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth, scoring Belanger after he doubled to start the inning. Pastime notched 11 hits that turned into 11 runs and sent at least four batters to the plate in all but two innings.

Ben Harris (one inning, two earned runs) relieved Blanchard, who peaked in the second and third innings by throwing just 10 pitches over six batters. Ethan Brown finished on the bump for Rogers Post, which will advance to face the Zone 4 winner in Augusta next week.

Pastime draws the Zone 4 runner-up, and for Brown, the week leading up to the postseason will be both about preparation and reflection.

“This is really time to recognize these kids,” Brown said. “To be 21-0 in summer ball, to really come ready to play every day and face teams’ top pitching. They deserve some recognition for that. They deserve a lot of credit, our kids.”

Pastime Club 11, Rogers Post 1, eight innings

Zone 2 title game at Lewiston High School

RP	—	000	100	00X		—	1-	6-1
PC	—	500	032	01X	—		11-	11-0

Tyler Blanchard, Ben Harris (5), Ethan Brown (7) and Drew Lashua; Kyle Bourget and Brock Belanger. Doubles — (RP) Drew Lashua, Lew Jensen, Grant Hartley; (PC) Brock Belanger, Hunter Landry, Austin Wing, Kyle Bourget, Mitch Davis. Repeat hitters — (PC) Brock Belanger, Hunter Landry, Austin Wing, Mitch Davis. Records — Pastime Club 21-0, Rogers Post 17-4.