CUMBERLAND

After a tough loss to Wells on Monday, where the Falcons surrendered five unearned runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning for their only loss, getting out to a good start against Greely on Wednesday was important.

The Falcons plated three unearned runs in the top of the first and rode the arm of Heath Cockburn for six innings to come away with a 6-2 victory over their Western Maine Conference foe.

“We had a good practice yesterday and we were loose on the bus ride down,” said Freeport coach Bill Ridge. “We came out flat during warmups, but we quickly turned that around in the first. That’s something great about these kids, they can bounce back.”

Both Shea Wagner and Jack Sawicki reached base on Greely errors to open the game. After a Colby Wagner single off Rangers starter Eben Kiesow, Toby Holt hit a fly ball to deep center field. The center fielder misplayed the ball, allowing both Sawicki and Colby Wagner to score, giving the Falcons an early 3-0 lead after a half-inning.

“It was nice to come and score some runs, it helps me out when I’m on the mound on the road,” said Cockburn.

Helped it did as the sophomore immediately set the pace with an opening strikeout of Nick Butler and then set the cruise control, retiring the first five batters he faced.

Kiesow cracked the righty with two outs in the second, hitting a double past the outstretched Gabe Wagner in left field for Greely’s first hit. Jack Libby followed with a solid single, scoring Kiesow to cut the lead to 3-1.

Cockburn retired the next hitter with Jacob Whiting to fly out to center to end the inning.

“I know some of these hitters with playing legion with them and their tendencies, so it helped with calling the game for Heath,” said Freeport catcher Colby Wagner. “I know a lot of them don’t like off-speed stuff, so I kept calling it.”

The calling of the pitches and the snap of each pitch from Cockburn’s steady pace on the hill kept the Rangers hitters at bay and off the scoreboard, scattering just two hits over the next four innings, preserving the Freeport lead, while throwing 77 pitches through six innings.

“I just wanted to keep them off-balance today, Colby calls a good game,” said Cockburn. “I felt good out there, I just wanted to throw strikes and stay ahead.”

The Falcons picked up an insurance run in the fifth inning after Ericksen Shea was hit by a pitch. After a Shea Wagner sacrifice bunt moved Shea to second, the senior stole third without a throw as the Greely catcher failed to handle the pitch cleanly. Shea scored on a Colby Wagner sacrifice fly.

Freeport plated two more runs in the top half of the seventh after Shea reached base, eventually coming around to score on a Sawicki groundout. Colby Wagner knocked in his third run with his second single of the game, once again plating his brother Shea after he reached base with a knock.

Holding a 6- 1 lead, Ridge went to his bullpen, something he had planned on the inning before.

“ I knew Heath had faced his last batter the inning before,” said Ridge. “We had plenty of arms to go to.”

Finn Johnson replaced Cockburn in the seventh and picked up the first out. He then gave up a hit and a walk before getting a fly-out. Butler hit an RBI single before Greely loaded the bases, bringing the tying run to the plate.

Ridge turned to Holt, where the junior induced a ground ball to short , where Sawicki fielded it smoothly and fired to first the final out.

“ Sure it was on our minds,” said Ridge about the final inning in Wells on Monday during Wednesday’s last frame. “More importantly, it was on theirs too, and look how they handled it. They bared down and the got the final out on a hard ground ball to short with a good throw.”

“ We were thinking about it some, but we’ve done this before,” said Cockburn, who gave up four hits, striking out four, while walking no one in the win.

Colby Wagner finished with two hits and three RBI’s for the Falcons ( 4- 1). Shea reached base three times ( two walks and a hit- by- pitch) and scored two runs from the number nine hole, while leadoff hitter Shea Wagner also scored two runs in the win.

Kiesow took the loss for Greely ( 3- 3) allowing three earned runs on three hits, while striking out three and walking three.

Freeport hosts Cape Elizabeth in a WMC battle on Friday at 4 p.m.

Freeport 6, Greely 2

At Cumberland

	Freeport	—	300	010	2	—	6	4	1
Greely		—	010	000	1	—	2	6	3

Heath Cockburn, Finn Johnson (7),
Toby Holt (7) and Colby Wagner;
Eban Kiesow, Butler (7) and Aiden
Smith.
WP — Cockburn; LP — Kiesow.
Doubles — (F) Toby Holt; (G) Eban
Kiesow.
Repeat hitters — (F) Colby Wagner;
(G) Nick Butler.
Records — Freeport 4-1; Greely 3-3.
Up next for the Falcons — Friday at
home against Cape Elizabeth, 4 p.m.