CAPE ELIZABETH — Jameson Bryant expected to pitch in Tuesday’s baseball regular-season finale.
And the Cape Elizabeth sophomore did, entering a tie game against visiting Yarmouth with the top seed hanging in the balance.
What Bryant didn’t expect was that he’d come to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning with a chance to win the contest with his bat. But that’s exactly what Bryant did, laying down a one-out squeeze bunt to score Andrew Libby and give the Capers a dramatic 1-0 victory.
Cape Elizabeth improved to 13-3 and will be the top seed for the upcoming Class B South tournament thanks to yet another late-inning win.
“It’s always exciting to have a walk-off win,” said Bryant. “We’re a competitive team and we score deep into games because we have energy.”
Charlie Song led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and Libby came in as a pinch runner. He was sacrificed to second by Sam Lombardo, then took third on a passed ball. After freshman pinch-hitter Caiden Johnson drew a walk off Yarmouth ace Liam Hickey, the stage was set for Bryant, who got his bunt down to end it.
“As soon as the ball was on the ground and I saw Andrew take off, I knew he was going to score,” said Bryant, who surrendered just one hit in two innings of relief.
“We’re just resilient and it’s been that way since day one,” added Donald Dutton, Cape Elizabeth’s first-year coach. “You put the ball in play, good things will happen. This felt like a playoff game. (Yarmouth’s) a really good team and we knew that coming in. We just executed a little bit better today.”
Hickey was dominant for much of the game, allowing just five hits and striking out seven. He gave up a one-out triple to Gabe Harmon in the first, but stranded him, then escaped a first-and-third, one out jam in the sixth as well.
The Capers meanwhile, got five solid innings from starter Curtis Sullivan, who gave up just three hits, then Bryant came on to work an uneventful top of the sixth.
The Clippers (11-5) had runners on first and second to start the top of the seventh after an error and a walk. A sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third. Graeme Roux tried to squeeze home the go-ahead run, but he popped up to Ben Altenburg at third, who threw to second to complete the double play.
“(Bunts) don’t always work when the games get tighter and the teams get better,” said Yarmouth Coach Marc Halsted. “If it always worked, major league ballplayers would do it.”
Yarmouth got two hits from Andrew Cheever and expects to be the third or fourth seed for the playoffs.
“We’re definitely still confident,” said Hickey. “This isn’t how we want to end the regular season, but we know we have it in us. We’ll get ready for the next game and focus on being 0-0 now. I’ve been playing with these guys my whole life and (the seniors) will try our best to get the title.”
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