The Sebago Lakers kept pace with visiting Yankee Ford through four innings on Thursday, July 14: A Troy Bogdahn grounder up the middle in the third coaxed a rare error from the Yankee Ford defense and allowed two Lakers to score and tie action at 3-3. Yankee Ford broke the game open after that, however, tallying nine more in the downhill stretch to ultimately earn a lopsided, 12-4 W over the Lakers.

“We took advantage of a couple of their errors,” said Yankee Ford head coach Andy Wood. “But we had 16 hits today. Bogdahn’s pretty good, so to get 16 hits off him is pretty good. One through nine, we were just pretty solid.”

“Tip your hat to them,” said Lakers head coach Max Salevsky of the opposition. “They put the ball in play…They made more plays than we did.”

The result, which transpired at Windham High School, dropped the Lakers to 7-8; Yankee Ford, meanwhile, jumped to 15-0. The Lakers are comprised of Windham, Bonny Eagle and Sacopee Valley players, while Yankee Ford features choice talent from South Portland and Cape Elizabeth.

“We’re now below .500,” said Salevskey, “so we want to bring that back together. We have so much talent, but the problem has been, for us – we had 10 kids [today]; we had a DH on the bench, and that was it. The same thing has happened three or four times during the last week.”

The Lakers’ roster is longer than 10, but oftentimes, players miss games because of work obligations or other summer diversions. The predicament isn’t unique to them; coaches besides Salevskey face it as well. If Yankee Ford has had to deal with it at times, however, Thursday wasn’t one of them: Their lineup, skilled and deep, was largely in attendance.

“We have a lot of pitching, and we have some good hitting,” said Salevskey. “But the dynamic changes completely when you only have nine or 10 kids here … There are seminal moments in a game that you can change when you have a bench-full.”

Bogdahn, who recently garnered MPA All-Conference Honors for his spring-season pitching, started on the mound for the Lakers. Yankee Ford hit him well from the get-go, however, and jumped to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first.

Sam Troiano sent a first-pitch drive into right to kick off the action, and reached base on an error. Soon, Anthony Degifico grounded a single into right and Dylan Roberts grounded to short; Roberts’ ball forced a second Lakers’ error and allowed Troiano to cross the plate. Ben Conti’s single into wide left scored Degifico, while Alex Livingston’s ground-out gave Roberts the time he needed to race home from third.

The Lakers got one back in the bottom of the inning: Devin Butler grounded toward Troiano at third and reached first safely when Troiano erred. Butler stole second during Zach Alpern’s at-bat, then reached home when Alpern sliced a single to left-center. 

The team tied the game two innings later, Ethan Olson beginning the rally with a grounder single up the middle. Olson moved to second when Yankee Ford starting pitcher Marshall Peterson walked Butler onto first; he gained third on an Alpern sac bunt and both he and Butler rounded to home when Bogdahn belted the aforementioned grounder.

From there, however, Yankee Ford took over. Troiano began the top of the fifth with a single to right that, on an error, he turned into two bases. He advanced to third on a wild pitch during Nate Ingalls’s at-bat, then tagged up and raced home when Ingalls volleyed a ball into left. Degifico and Roberts also singled and scored in the inning, putting their team out front 6-3 and seizing the momentum.

Wood elaborated. “We had an opportunity with bases loaded, two outs, and we pinch-hit for the seven-hitter,” he said. “Matt Crockett came in and had a nice, two-out hit that scored [Degifico and Roberts].”

“We have the talent, the ability to do this,” Salevsky said of winning against even the top teams. “We just have to, number one, believe in ourselves, and keep the energy level up – it wanes.”

The Lakers battled in the bottom of the fifth, and got one back for their efforts. Olson reached first on an error and eventually scored on a sac grounder by Alpern. But Olson’s run would be the team’s last of the day. Yankee Ford wrung four more from their hosts in the sixth – Troiano, Ingalls, Degifico and Roberts all scored – and two more in the seventh, when Henry Curran (pinch-running for Matt Riggle) and Drew Abramson also crossed the plate. Peterson wrapped up the action by striking out Alpern. 12-4 the final.

Butler had two singles on the day, and Alpern one. Zach Hicks tallied three singles, and Bogdahn and Olson each had a single. Bogdahn picked up five Ks.

The Sebago Lakers kept pace with visiting Yankee Ford through four innings on Thursday, July 14: A Troy-Bogdahn grounder up the middle in the third coaxed a rare error from the Yankee Ford defense and allowed two Lakers to score and tie action at 3-3. Yankee Ford broke the game open after that, however, tallying nine more in the downhill stretch to ultimately earn a lopsided, 12-4 W over the Lakers.

“We took advantage of a couple of their errors,” said Yankee Ford head coach Andy Wood. “But we had 16 hits today. Bogdahn’s pretty good, so to get 16 hits off him is pretty good. One through nine, we were just pretty solid.”

“Tip your hat to them,” said Lakers head coach Max Salevsky of the opposition. “They put the ball in play…They made more plays than we did.”

The result, which transpired at Windham High School, dropped the Lakers to 7-8; Yankee Ford, meanwhile, jumped to 15-0. The Lakers are comprised of Windham, Bonny Eagle and Sacopee Valley players, while Yankee Ford features choice talent from South Portland and Cape Elizabeth.

“We’re now below .500,” said Salevskey, “so we want to bring that back together. We have so much talent, but the problem has been, for us – we had 10 kids [today]; we had a DH on the bench, and that was it. The same thing has happened three or four times during the last week.”

The Lakers’ roster is longer than 10, but oftentimes, players miss games because of work obligations or other summer diversions. The predicament isn’t unique to them; coaches besides Salevskey face it as well. If Yankee Ford has had to deal with it at times, however, Thursday wasn’t one of them: Their lineup, skilled and deep, was largely in attendance.

“We have a lot of pitching, and we have some good hitting,” said Salevskey. “But the dynamic changes completely when you only have nine or 10 kids here … There are seminal moments in a game that you can change when you have a bench-full.”

Bogdahn, who recently garnered MPA All-Conference Honors for his spring-season pitching, started on the mound for the Lakers. Yankee Ford hit him well from the get-go, however, and jumped to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first.

Sam Troiano sent a first-pitch drive into right to kick off the action, and reached base on an error. Soon, Anthony Degifico grounded a single into right and Dylan Roberts grounded to short; Roberts’ ball forced a second Lakers’ error and allowed Troiano to cross the plate. Ben Conti’s single into wide left scored Degifico, while Alex Livingston’s ground-out gave Roberts the time he needed to race home from third.

The Lakers got one back in the bottom of the inning: Devin Butler grounded toward Troiano at third and reached first safely when Troiano erred. Butler stole second during Zach Alpern’s at-bat, then reached home when Alpern sliced a single to left-center. 

The team tied the game two innings later, Ethan Olson beginning the rally with a grounder single up the middle. Olson moved to second when Yankee Ford starting pitcher Marshall Peterson walked Butler onto first; he gained third on an Alpern sac bunt and both he and Butler rounded to home when Bogdahn belted the aforementioned grounder.

From there, however, Yankee Ford took over. Troiano began the top of the fifth with a single to right that, on an error, he turned into two bases. He advanced to third on a wild pitch during Nate Ingalls’s at-bat, then tagged up and raced home when Ingalls volleyed a ball into left. Degifico and Roberts also singled and scored in the inning, putting their team out front 6-3 and seizing the momentum.

Wood elaborated. “We had an opportunity with bases loaded, two outs, and we pinch-hit for the seven-hitter,” he said. “Matt Crockett came in and had a nice, two-out hit that scored [Degifico and Roberts].”

“We have the talent, the ability to do this,” Salevsky said of winning against even the top teams. “We just have to, number one, believe in ourselves, and keep the energy level up – it wanes.”

The Lakers battled in the bottom of the fifth, and got one back for their efforts. Olson reached first on an error and eventually scored on a sac grounder by Alpern. But Olson’s run would be the team’s last of the day. Yankee Ford wrung four more from their hosts in the sixth – Troiano, Ingalls, Degifico and Roberts all scored – and two more in the seventh, when Henry Curran (pinch-running for Matt Riggle) and Drew Abramson also crossed the plate. Peterson wrapped up the action by striking out Alpern. 12-4 the final.

Butler had two singles on the day, and Alpern one. Zach Hicks tallied three singles, and Bogdahn and Olson each had a single. Bogdahn picked up five Ks.

The Sebago Lakers kept pace with visiting Yankee Ford through four innings on Thursday, July 14: A Troy-Bogdahn grounder up the middle in the third coaxed a rare error from the Yankee Ford defense and allowed two Lakers to score and tie action at 3-3. Yankee Ford broke the game open after that, however, tallying nine more in the downhill stretch to ultimately earn a lopsided, 12-4 W over the Lakers.

“We took advantage of a couple of their errors,” said Yankee Ford head coach Andy Wood. “But we had 16 hits today. Bogdahn’s pretty good, so to get 16 hits off him is pretty good. One through nine, we were just pretty solid.”

“Tip your hat to them,” said Lakers head coach Max Salevsky of the opposition. “They put the ball in play…They made more plays than we did.”

The result, which transpired at Windham High School, dropped the Lakers to 7-8; Yankee Ford, meanwhile, jumped to 15-0. The Lakers are comprised of Windham, Bonny Eagle and Sacopee Valley players, while Yankee Ford features choice talent from South Portland and Cape Elizabeth.

“We’ve only been down two or three times,” said Wood, “and each time, in the fifth or sixth inning, someone finds a way to get it done.”

“We’re now below .500,” said Salevskey, “so we want to bring that back together. We have so much talent, but the problem has been, for us – we had 10 kids [today]; we had a DH on the bench, and that was it. The same thing has happened three or four times during the last week.”

The Lakers’ roster is longer than 10, but oftentimes, players miss games because of work obligations or other summer diversions. The predicament isn’t unique to them; coaches besides Salevskey face it as well. If Yankee Ford has had to deal with it at times, however, Thursday wasn’t one of them: Their lineup, skilled and deep, was largely in attendance.

“We have a lot of pitching, and we have some good hitting,” said Salevskey. “But the dynamic changes completely when you only have nine or ten kids here…There are seminal moments in a game that you can change when you have a bench-full.”

Bogdahn, who recently garnered MPA All-Conference Honors for his spring-season pitching, started on the mound for the Lakers. Yankee Ford hit him well from the get-go, however, and jumped to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first.

Sam Troiano sent a first-pitch drive into right to kick off the action, and reached base on an error. Soon, Anthony Degifico grounded a single into right and Dylan Roberts grounded to short; Roberts’ ball forced a second Lakers’ error and allowed Troiano to cross the plate. Ben Conti’s single into wide left scored Degifico, while Alex Livingston’s ground-out gave Roberts the time he needed to race home from third.

The Lakers got one back in the bottom of the inning: Devin Butler grounded toward Troiano at third and reached first safely when Troiano erred. Butler stole second during Zach Alpern’s at-bat, then reached home when Alpern sliced a single to left-center.

The team tied the game two innings later, Ethan Olson beginning the rally with a grounder single up the middle. Olson moved to second when Yankee Ford starting pitcher Marshall Peterson walked Butler onto first; he gained third on an Alpern sac bunt and both he and Butler rounded to home when Bogdahn belted the aforementioned grounder.

From there, however, Yankee Ford took over. Troiano began the top of the fifth with a single to right that, on an error, he turned into two bases. He advanced to third on a wild pitch during Nate Ingalls’s at-bat, then tagged up and raced home when Ingalls volleyed a ball into left. Degifico and Roberts also singled and scored in the inning, putting their team out front 6-3 and seizing the momentum.

Wood elaborated. “We had an opportunity with bases loaded, two outs, and we pinch-hit for the seven-hitter,” he said. “Matt Crockett came in and had a nice, two-out hit that scored [Degifico and Roberts].”

“We have the talent, the ability to do this,” Salevsky said of winning against even the top teams. “We just have to, number one, believe in ourselves, and keep the energy level up – it wanes.”

The Lakers battled in the bottom of the fifth, and got one back for their efforts. Olson reached first on an error and eventually scored on a sac grounder by Alpern. But Olson’s run would be the team’s last of the day. Yankee Ford wrung four more from their hosts in the sixth – Troiano, Ingalls, Degifico and Roberts all scored – and two more in the seventh, when Henry Curran (pinch-running for Matt Riggle) and Drew Abramson also crossed the plate. Peterson wrapped up the action by striking out Alpern. 12-4 the final.

“They’re definitely having fun,” said Wood of his boys. “They’re meshing together pretty well. To have 15 kids and have six sit on the bench and still be having a fun time, I think they’re having a pretty positive experience. For a lot of them, it’s going to be their last time playing.”

Troiano finished with a single, a double and three runs on the day; Ingalls finished with a single and a run. Degifico, with three singles, and Roberts, with one single, both tallied three runs. Curran and Abramson each had a run, and Abramson notched a single. Riggle finished with three singles, Livingston with a double and Crockett had his game-changing single. On the mound, Peterson earned four Ks.

“He’s a pitcher only, so this is his third time coming,” said Wood of Peterson. “He pitches once a week and competes and gets it done.”

Butler had two singles on the day, and Alpern one. Zach Hicks tallied three singles, and Bogdahn and Olson each had a single. Bogdahn picked up five Ks.

The Lakers’ Devin Butler dives back to first.

Dylan Roberts rounds third on his way to home.

Yankee Ford shortstop Drew Abramson fires a ball toward first.

Zach Alpern lays down a sac bunt for the Lakers vs. visiting Yankee Ford.

Sebago’s Ethan Olson dives back to first.

Yankee Ford second baseman Ben Conti whirls and fires a ball to first.

The Lakers’ Cody Mains takes a cut at the ball.

Laker Augie Salevsky hurls a ball toward first, part of a double-play attempt.