AUBURN
There are few secrets on the baseball diamond when Mt. Ararat and Edward Little faceoff each season, with the squads meeting in the Class A North postseason the past two years.
Last year, it was the upset minded Eagles who got the better of the Red Eddies in the semifinals.
On Wednesday in a regular season Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference meeting at Auburn Suburban Field, undefeated EL rallied from a 3-1 fourth-inning deficit for a 7-3 win, giving the Red Eddies a 9-0 mark heading into Thursday’s home matchup with Mt. Blue.
On the other side, Mt. Ararat dropped its fifth close game of the season, falling to 3-5 at the halfway point with a home date with Camden Hills set for Friday at 4:15 p.m.
Trailing 1-0 in the fourth innings, the visiting Eagles put together a rally that always seems to occur when they meet EL. Against Red Eddies starter Ethan Brown, Hunter Lohr tied the game with a run-scoring single and Devin Tobin, who up until the big frame had Mt. Ararat’s lone hit, ripped a two-run double to the gap in right-center field for 3-1 Eagles lead.
“We came out well,” said Mt. Ararat coach Brett Chase.
But in the EL fourth, the Red Eddies returned to basics. Giles Paradis singled and Christian Beliveau dropped a perfect bunt for a hit, with an Eagles throwing error putting runners at the corners. One out later, a second Mt. Ararat miscue on a Nick Hathaway bunt made for a 3-2 contest, and a two-out RBI single by Jake Arel tied the game, 3-3, after four.
“We are a fairly young team, but we play like a veteran team,” EL coach Dave Jordan said. “Even though we were down 3-1, we knew that we could get guys on base, get some steals and come back. We had some well-placed bunts, and we have some speed.”
The fifth inning was a nightmare for Mt. Ararat and starting pitcher Kaileb Hawkes. Maxx Bell reached on an infield single, and Ben Cassidy’s bunt was thrown away. A third hit from Paradis gave EL the lead for good, with a bobble in the outfield scoring two runs for a 5-3 Red Eddie lead. Another solid bunt by Beliveau and a walk to Brown loaded the bases, and Eagles reliever Cam Grant walked Austin Brown to force in a run to make for a 6-3 contest after five.
“We had some little things that we have been working on hurt us,” said Chase. “Give Edward Little credit, they laid down some good bunts and executed. We just didn’t. We need to get back to the little things, getting clutch hitting and making the plays on the field.”
Solid start
Both Hawkes and Ethan Brown were on over the first three innings. The EL righty retired nine of the first 10 Eagles, and Hawkes, despite allowing five hits, permitted only a second- inning run as Paradis scored on a single by Ethan Brown.
Paradis finished 3-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
“ We were working on getting my hands back. I had been turning my shoulders, and went to the cage and I felt good,” said the EL catcher. “We are playing great ball, and if we keep doing what we’re doing, we will be really hard to beat. We have worked on coming from behind. We were down to Cony, 5- 1, and came back and won that game.”
Jordan knew Mt. Ararat was going to battle, with the Eagles refusing to be intimidated by the talented Red Eddies.
“They are a good team, a solid team that has several returning players,” the EL coach said. “They have a lot of guys that have played in some big games. You can’t go up and down the lineup and get a bunch of strikeouts against them.”
Ethan Brown went six innings on nine strikeouts, one walk, two hit batters and six hits to earn the win.
Austin Brown tossed the final inning, allowing a walk and a single by Lohr.
Beliveau also had three hits for the Red Eddies, while Arel added two singles. EL belted out 12 singles.
Tobin, Austin Damon and Lohr picked up two hits apiece for Mt. Ararat.
Hawkes took the mound loss, striking out three and walking two over his four- plus innings. Grant allowed a run over two frames with two walks and a hit batter.
Edward Little 7, Mt. Ararat 3
At Auburn Suburban Fields
| Mt. | Ararat — 000 | 300 | 0 | — | 3- | 6-4 | ||
| EL | — | 010 | 231 | X | — | 7- | 12-3 |
Kaileb Hawkes, Cam Grant (5) and
Nate Leslie; Ethan Brown, Austin
Brown (7) and Giles Paradis.
WP — E. Brown; LP — Hawkes.
Double — (MtA) Devin Tobin.
Repeat hitters — (MtA) Devin Tobin,
Austin Damon, Hunter Lohr; (EL)
Giles Paradis (3), Christian Beliveau
(3), Jake Arel.
Records — Edward Little 9-0, Mt.
Ararat 3-5.
Up next for the Eagles — Friday at
home vs. Camden Hills, 4:15 p.m.
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