Ryan Robertson of Mt. Ararat makes contact during Tuesday’s game against Brunswick at Mt. Ararat Middle School in Topsham. Eli Canfield/The Times Record
TOPSHAM — It hasn’t been the start either side have been looking for so far this season, so naturally, something had to give between the Mt. Ararat and Brunswick baseball teams. Both the Dragons and Eagles were eager for that elusive first victory when they squared off on a sunny Tuesday.
Thanks to an oustanding start from sophomore Shea Farrell, it was the Eagles who came out on top, 6-3.
“The plan was to just get ahead in the count and throw first-pitch strikes,” said Farrell after his first career varsity start. “I was definitely a little nervous leading up to the game, but once I got on the mound and took a breath, I just played some baseball.”
Farrell (1-0) pitched all seven innings and struck out nine while allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits.
It was the first win for the Eagles on the new field at Mt. Ararat High School.
“It feels good to get a win; the first one is always the hardest,” said Mt. Ararat (1-2) head coach Brett Chase. “Hopefully there are many more to come on this field.”
Quin McCaffrey of Brunswick swings through a pitch during Tuesday’s game against Mt. Ararat at Mt. Ararat Middle School in Topsham. Eli Canfield/The Times Record
The Eagles took the lead in the fourth and didn’t give it back after three consecutive doubles from Kobe Clark, Austin Berry and Carson Taylor. Taylor’s double scored Berry to give the Eagles a 3-2 advantage.
“Coming out of quarantine we haven’t been able to string together consecutive hits,” said Chase. “We really focused on swinging at good pitches and not giving the opposition any free outs, the guys did that today.”
The Dragons dropped to 0-4.
“We just need to play a good baseball game from start to finish,” said starting pitcher Adam Nussbaum, who allowed nine hits and six runs (three unearned) in the loss. “If everything comes together and we have fun, the wins will come to us, we have a lot of talent over here.”
The Dragons have had a tough time finding their swing so far this season, as they’ve scored three runs in each of their four games. Head coach Craig Rogers said he’d like to see the bats wake up soon.
“I don’t want to take anything away from the opposing pitcher because he was fantastic, I’m just surprised with how our offense has been thus far,” said Rogers. “I thought Adam was great today, he picked his spots well and had good control of his command.”
The Dragons committed three errors Tuesday, which led to three Eagles runs.
“It’s just been errors that have killed us,” Rogers said.
Declan Lay of Brunswick gears up for a pitch during Tuesday’s game against Mt. Ararat at Mt. Ararat Middle School in Topsham. Eli Canfield/The Times Record
The Eagles struck early to take a lead in the first. After Farrell reached on an error and stole second, catcher Ryan Robertson blasted a double to left that missed going out of the park by a couple feet to score Farrell. Tucker Swanson followed and thought he had an extra-base hit, but left-fielder Declan Lay made a fantastic diving catch to save a run.
The Dragons broke through in the top of the fourth. After a Mt. Ararat error and a Lay double, Sam Masse doubled to right field to give the Dragons a 2-1 lead.
After the Eagles scored two runs in the bottom of the frame, they added three runs in the bottom of the fifth for some added insurance for Farrell.
Those runs in the fifth proved big, as the Dragons were able to pish a run across in the seventh on a Quin McCaffrey sacrifice fly.
“Now it’s all about keeping this momentum going through the whole season, but it feels good to get my first win,” said Farrell.
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