AUBURN — Worn down recently by a virus that has swept through his team, St. Dom’s senior pitcher Mac Pelletier found the cure he needed in the Saints’ final regular-season opponent.

Pelletier retired the final eight batters as the Saints cruised to a 12-1 victory over North Yarmouth Academy in a game stopped in the fifth inning because of the 10-run mercy rule.

Derek Wolverton and Ben Gosselin led the Saints (11-5) offensively with two hits apiece. Wolverton, a freshman cleanup hitter, tripled and singled and drove in a pair of runs, while Gosselin doubled and singled and drove in three runs.

Pelletier allowed two hits and two walks while striking out four. His only bad inning was the second, when he gave up a leadoff single to Jackson Linscott, uncorked a wild pitch, then surrendered a one-out RBI single by Dan Zajkowski that tied the game for NYA (1-11).

“I’m coming off of a sickness, so I lost some velocity,” Pelletier said. “I’m going to get that back by the end of the week, for sure. It’s actually the perfect time where you get on the mound and just throw, just get out all of the kinks and get ready for the first big game.”

“He wasn’t at 100 percent today, strength-wise, but we worked on location and stuff,” St. Dom’s Coach Bob Blackman said. “He’s going to get stronger for our next game. I wanted him to get at least 65 to 70 pitches, and that’s right where he came in at.”

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The Saints quickly regained the lead with three runs in the bottom of the second. Gosselin got the key hit, a double over to left that drove in Will Laflamme. Gosselin then drew a bad throw while stealing third and scored easily to make it 4-1.

St. Dom’s broke it open with five runs in the third. Michael Ciley (two hits), who led off the inning with a single, scored easily on Wolverton’s triple into the gap in right-center.

“I just squared one up,” Wolverton said. “I had missed a sign and went to talk to (Blackman). I thought I had to make up for it.”

“He used a wooden bat,” Blackman said. “If he’d have used a metal bat, his regular one, he’d have had an inside-the-park (home run).”

Zach Pelletier’s sacrifice fly and Gosselin’s two-run single made it 9-1. Laflamme’s RBI single in the fourth was the last of the Saints’ nine hits.

The Saints won seven of their final eight regular-season games and earned a bye to the Class C South quarterfinals as the No. 5 or No. 6 seed.

“We were a young team to start the season, and we still are,” Pelletier said. “But just getting that experience helps a lot. I think we’re mature enough now to really pull together well for the playoffs.”

“We’re in a nice groove right now,” Wolverton said. “Since midseason, we’ve been doing well. We just need to keep it up during playoffs.


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