BATH — Though it hasn’t been the season the Mt. Ararat baseball team had been hoping, for one thing is for sure; their offense isn’t the issue.

“We’ve been hitting the baseball all season long, defense has been our kryptonite,” said Mt. Ararat (2-7) head coach Brett Chase, who’s team scored early and often in a 10-8 win over Morse (3-6) on Tuesday. 

Behind a solid starter on the mound from Kobe Farrell and an offensive exhibition highlighted by a two-run home run by sophomore Shea Farrell in the fifth inning, the Eagles kept their offense rolling after scoring nine runs in their last outing, a loss to Lewiston. 

“We know what we are capable of at the plate, we just have to gain some confidence,” said Farrell, who couldn’t help but smile when asked about his home run. “I’m not going to lie, I didn’t think I got all of it, but that was a great feeling watching it fly over the fence.”

After giving up four runs and grinding through the first inning, Clark found his command settled down. At one point, he retired seven straight Shipbuilders.

“I knew that I didn’t really have my best stuff in the first, but I got through it,” said Clark, who tossed 5 ⅔ innings allowing seven runs while striking out five. “The plan was to attack the zone and stay ahead of each hitter, and not let counts get away from me.”

Clark walked just two Shipbuilder hitters. 

Gavin Baillargeon was dealt the loss for the Shipbuilders in his first game in over two weeks after being out due to COVID-19 safety protocols. Morse head coach Niko Ruiz was more than pleased with what he saw from his pitcher on Tuesday.

“I thought Gavin was fantastic, especially given that he hadn’t pitched for us in a while,” said Ruiz. “Our biggest issue this year is playing consistent baseball and playing all seven innings, something we didn’t do here today.”

Baillargeon let up nine runs (six earned) in 4 ⅔ innings while striking out five and allowing 10 hits. 

The Eagles blew the game open in the fifth. After number nine hitter Ryan Staples reached on an error, Farrell smacked his first career varsity home run just over the 325’ sign on the left field fence. Travis Swanson would come through with an RBI single later in the inning to push the lead to 9-4 at the time. 

“What makes this team special is the way we play team baseball and always have each other’s backs,” said Farrell. “When you have a system and people that you know and trust, it makes things easier between the lines. 

After the Eagles opened the game with a four-run with two scoring on a Landen Chase double down the right field line, the Shipbuilders were quick to respond with a four-run inning of their own to even the score after one inning.

Ruiz has seen a similar trend from his team throughout the season.

“We always start strong and tend to fall asleep in the middle innings,” said Ruiz. “No matter who you’re playing you can’t win games if you don’t play an entire game of baseball.”

The Eagles took the lead for good in the second when a Swanson single plated Staples. Swanson reached base a game-high four times and drove in two runs. 

After holding a 10-4 lead, the Shipbuilders began to chip away, but the Eagles did everything they could to not let them get any closer than they did.

“We wanted this one bad, we weren’t going to let them get back within a run,” said Clark. “We wanted to beat them, and now we have the confidence we need going into Friday.”

The two teams square off again on Friday, and once more on May 28. 

In the bottom of the 7th, the Shipbuilders had one final chance to make any noise, but were deflated after a controversial foul ball call that was preceded by a Carson Brady diving catch in center field, robbing Morse’s Tom Guild of extra bases.

“That was a great play, we knew we couldn’t lose after Carson (Brady) made that catch,” said Farrell.

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