Griffin Watson, a shortstop turned catcher that bats leadoff for Cheverus, showed his smarts in Thursday’s Class A South baseball game.

His heads-up play and sound baserunning helped the Stags upend Biddeford 2-1 at MacDonald Field in Portland.

Watson led off the bottom of the first inning with a single to right and advanced all the way to third on a sacrifice. Once he reached second, he noticed no one covered third and immediately took the extra base.

“He’s just a very intelligent baserunner,” said Cheverus Coach Mac McKew. “It’s his read.”

Watson scored on Justin Ray’s sacrifice fly to right field to make it 1-0. Watson also scored in the fifth inning on a single by Maxx St. John, who also had a double in the first.

Watson became the starting catcher earlier this month to provide consistency behind the plate. It’s not what he or McKew envisioned to start the season, but Watson embraced his new role.

“I just try to go in and have fun because it’s my last year,” Watson said. “I’m just trying to make the best of it. It’s not ideal, but I’ll do whatever to help the team win.”

“It’s not necessarily what we had planned, but hey, the catcher sets the tone,” McKew said. “We needed to have that energy back there. Watson is an excellent athlete and he can play anywhere in the field and he took it on because he’s a solid team player.”

The Stags have won 5 of 6 and came into game 13th in Class A South, one spot out of the playoffs.

“A very well-pitched game by both teams, but they had a couple of timely hits that gave them the lead,” said Biddeford Coach Keith LeBlanc.

Cheverus starter Conner MacDonald tossed a complete game, scattering seven hits and striking out five.”I can locate my curveball really well, almost better than my fastball,” MacDonald said. “I’m confident in it.”

The Tigers (6-5) scored in the seventh inning. After singling with one out, Colin Lavigne advanced to third on MacDonald’s errant pickoff attempt and scored on a groundout by designated hitter Ian Couture. But MacDonald then struck out Curtis Petit looking to end the game.

“I saw that he was a little bit early on my last curve, so I decided to bury one and he went for it,” MacDonald said.

Copy the Story Link