FREEPORT — One of the scariest things for a baseball hitter is when a pitch comes up and in near the head. Many things, most bad, often happen. 

An up-and-in pitch to Freeport’s Heath Cockburn did damage earlier in the CM Mortgage Wooden Bat League season, with Cockburn struck in the face, requiring him to miss the final three weeks of the regular season.

On Wednesday, Cockburn returned, both to the mound and in the batter’s box, helping his Falcons to a 3-0 victory over ninth-seeded Falmouth in a preliminary contest. 

Cockburn was stellar on the mound, going four no-hit innings with seven strikeouts and one walk. 

His first time stepping into the batter’s box didn’t go as well, with Cockburn striking out on six pitches. But to the righty, just returning and giving it a go was all so important. 

“I swung at some pitches that I shouldn’t have swung at, but I know I will get back into the swing of it,” said Cockburn.

“I’m sure it was tough for him getting back in there, but I said throughout the high school season how big of a warrior Heath is. He is just a baseball player,” said Freeport (5-5) coach Kyle Goodrich. “It probably wasn’t the best first at-bat that he has had, but he worked it up during the game.”

On the mound, Cockburn was unhittable. He fanned two Falmouth (5-6) hitters in the first, two more in both the second and third frames, and finished his outing with a pair of weakly hit ground balls to third base. He faced just two hitters over the minimum. 

“I pitched on Monday in another league, and I felt fresh and ready to go today,” said Cockburn after his 50-pitch outing. 

In Cockburn’s second at-bat in the third inning, he reached on a Falmouth error, sending Zane Aguilar to third base after a lead-off single. 

The key play of the game followed. Falmouth starting pitcher Peter McClusky faked to third and wheeled to throw to first, picking Cockburn off first base for the second out. 

But the home plate umpire ruled that McClusky had balked, though the rule in the league allows the third-to-first move. The call was reversed, but ruled a “dead ball,” keeping the runners at the corners. 

Cockburn stole second moments later, and after a two-out walk to Anthony Panciocco loaded the bases, Caden Benedict hustled to first for a two-RBI infield single, with Cockburn scoring all the way from second. 

“That is how we scored our runs. It would have killed the momentum, out at first base for the second out. Instead we bring two runs in that inning. It was huge,” admitted Goodrich. “It was aggressive baserunning by Heath there to score that second run. The approach is different in the summer, and you have to be aggressive to get things done. You just have to go up there and have an approach.”

Freeport added a run in the fourth as Willets Myers stole home while teammate Kempton Von Glinsky Gregoire was out at second on a steal attempt.

Blaine Cockburn relieved his older brother on the mound and came out firing. He struck out the side on 16 pitches in the fifth, and worked around a walk in both the sixth and seventh frames to close out the no-hitter. The lefty struck out eight in his three innings on 49 pitches.   

“Watching Heath and Blaine pitch, you won’t see two better arms in this area right now,” Goodrich said.

For Falmouth, McClusky took the loss after pitching into the fourth. He struck out three, walked three and permitted three hits. Ben Wilson tossed three frames (no hits, one strikeout). 

Freeport heads to top-seeded South Portland today (5:30 p.m.) at the Wainwright Sports Complex. 

“We are confident, knowing South Portland will be a really good team,” said Heath Cockburn. “As long as we can go back, remember how we played in June (Freeport was a State Class B finalist), we will do all right.” 

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