BATH — As the high school baseball regular season nears its conclusion, the games seem to get bigger, with playoff lives often on the line.  

Such was the case for Brunswick, which visited rival Morse on Friday riding a three-game winning streak and holding down the eighth and final playoff spot in the Class A North Heal Point Standings.  

Trailing 3-1 in the sixth inning, Sam Sharpe turned the tide in the Dragons’ favor, lifting a grand-slam home run inches over the right-center field fence at Kelley Field as Brunswick earned a big 6-3 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference win.  

Brunswick has now won four straight and stands at 7-8 with a home date with Mt. Ararat set for Tuesday at 4 p.m. The win gives the Dragons a 13-point lead over ninth-place Skowhegan.  

“I just wanted a good baseball game. It was a good ballgame,” said Brunswick coach

Craig Rogers. “Both teams made a couple of mistakes, and Sam got the big hit. Sam came in and did a good job on the mound, something that was equally important as his hit.” 

Brunswick struck first with an unearned run off starting pitcher Jackson Walker in the second frame as Henry Burnham scored on a Shipbuilder miscue. 

Morse answered in the bottom of the frame. Brogan Shaw and Brendan Cahill singled to put runners on the corners. Cahill and Shaw worked a double steal, with Shaw beating a Brunswick throw to the plate.  

The hosts grabbed a 2-1 lead in the fourth. Isaak Flaming doubled off the fence in right field and trucked home on a single by Boden Gould. 

In the fifth, Brunswick starting pitcher Coenradt Taylor (four innings, two runs, seven hits, three strikeouts, one walk) was hit by a Walker pitch and had to leave the game.  

Morse made it a 3-1 contest against Sharpe with an unearned run.  

The tide turned in the sixth. Walker had allowed just three hits through five innings, but Henry Burnham singled with one out and pinch runner Alex Dunton stole second. Walks to Scout Masse and Cam Dunton loaded the bases for Sharpe, who crushed an 0-1 pitch over the fence for a 5-3 lead.  

“That one felt really good and I felt that it had a chance,” said Sharpe of his home run that gave Brunswick a 5-3 lead. “This is a great win for us. We know we have to keep winning to get into the playoffs.” 

“We have beaten some good teams during this streak, and today we faced one of the top pitchers in Jackson (5 2/3 innings, five runs, six hits seven strikeouts, four walks, hit batter),” said Rogers after Walker threw 112 pitches.  

For Morse coach Niko Ruiz, it was a second straight game where a sixth-inning lead evaporated, as the Shipbuilders allowed Gardiner to score eight runs in the sixth in a 12-11 loss on Wednesday.  

“It was just these couple games for us. Today, Sam hit a grand slam, and Jackson pitched his butt off,” said Ruiz, whose Shipbuilders visit Lincoln Academy on Tuesday at 4 p.m. “They got that one big hit and that was it.  

“We need to battle for a full seven innings. They know how to play the game, so I am not too worried. It was a roller-coaster of emotions the whole game today.” 

Brunswick tacked on an unearned run in the seventh to complete the scoring. 

Sharpe pitched three innings in relief, permitting one run on one hit with three strikeouts. Austin Magliozzi threw 1 1/3 frames for Morse (one run, two walks, hit batter).  

Noah Goddard was the lone repeat hitter for Brunswick with two singles, while Ty Knowlton singled twice for the Shipbuilders.  

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