YARMOUTH—To win baseball games, you have to be mentally tough.

Pitchers have to shake off hits. Fielders have to bounce back from errors. Hitters can’t get down about a failed at-bat, because other opportunities are sure to come.

One of the myriad reasons the Yarmouth Clippers have been so good the past year-and-a-half is that they’re as mentally strong as anyone and the Clippers’ ability to overcome adversity was the difference in a key midseason showdown against visiting York Monday afternoon.

Yarmouth senior starter David Swift allowed a double on the first pitch of the game, then didn’t surrender another hit the rest of the game.

The Clippers also committed three errors and couldn’t drive in timely runs much of the day, but they still did enough to prevail.

Yarmouth went in front to stay in the bottom of the first, on a Swift sacrifice fly, then senior centerfielder Sam Bradford stole second and came all the way around to score on an error to make it 2-0.

The Wildcats did get on the board in the second inning, as two walks and an error loaded the bases and senior leftfielder Ben Brown brought a run home with a sacrifice fly.

But from there, Swift said, “No more.”

The score remained 2-1 until the bottom of the fifth, when Bradford crushed a double to left and senior leftfielder Sam Lowenstein did him one better, driving the ball over the fence for a two-run home run and some breathing room.

Senior shortstop Andrew Cheever brought home another run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth, then he replaced Swift on the mound in the seventh and slammed the door on a 5-1 triumph.

The Clippers won their fifth game in a row, improved to 6-1 and in the process, dropped York to 5-2.

“We’re mentally tough and highly competitive and what more can you ask for?” said longtime Yarmouth coach Marc Halsted. “These are kids who play hockey, soccer, Bradford is a tough football kid. They’re highly competitive and they’re not afraid of the big situation.”

No days off

Every day in Class B South baseball comes with a challenge and so far in 2024, both the Clippers and Wildcats have passed the vast majority of their tests.

Yarmouth handled visiting Lake Region in six-innings (11-1) in the opener, then fell at Cape Elizabeth in a regional final rematch, 7-2. Come-from-behind home wins over Wells (3-2) and Medomak Valley (5-4) followed and then the Clippers eked out a 1-0 victory at Greely before blanking host Mt. Ararat (5-0) Friday.

“This is not MIT math here,” said Halsted. “We needed to get on the field, get BP outside and get live at-bats against good pitchers. Quality at-bats against quality pitchers made us better.”

York broke out of the gate with decisive wins over Morse (13-6) and Wells (10-3) before losing to Poland (8-7, in a game it nearly erased a seven-run deficit). The Wildcats then bounced back and defeated Fryeburg Academy (10-5), Wells (2-1) and Cape Elizabeth (4-2).

Last season, the teams met just once and the Clippers prevailed at home, 5-0, behind a two-hitter from Liam Hickey.

Monday, on a very pleasant early-May day (60 degrees at first pitch), Yarmouth was far from flawless, but managed to wind up triumphant nonetheless.

Brown lined Swift’s first pitch deep into the left-centerfield gap and raced into second with a double to apparently set the tone, but junior centerfielder Jack Joyce watched strike three and Swift’s opposite number, senior Brody Gullison, lined out to left on the first pitch he saw. Swift then plunked junior designated hitter John Jacobsohn with a pitch, but he escaped the jam by pouncing off the mound, grabbing a squibber off the bat of junior catcher Bradley Carr and throwing to senior first baseman Jack Janczuk just in time to retire the side.

The Clippers then made good things happen in the bottom half against Gullison.

Senior second baseman Matt Gautreau led off with a ground ball down the third base line. York junior third baseman Lucas Ketchum dove and stopped the ball, but had no chance to throw out the speedy Gautreau, who reached on an infield single. Gautreau then stole second and took third when Cheever singled to left on a 3-2 pitch. That brought up Swift, who helped his cause with a first pitch fly ball to medium deep center, which resulted in a sacrifice fly to score Gautreau. With Bradford at the plate, Cheever stole second, then tried to take third as well, but was thrown out by Carr. Bradford walked on a 3-2 pitch, then with Lowenstein at the plate, he stole second. Bradford didn’t stop there, as Carr’s throw was wide and Bradford took off for third. When Joyce couldn’t cleanly come up with the ball, Halsted waved Bradford home and Bradford slid in safely to make it 2-0.

“We talked about how long the grass is because we couldn’t mow it after we got rain, so when the ball got stuck in the grass and we saw something we thought we could take advantage of, we gave it a shot,” Halsted said. “You know me. I like to take risks.”

Lowenstein then singled to center and Janczuk followed with a single up the middle before junior third baseman Alec Gagnon flew out to left to keep lead at two.

The Wildcats got back within one in the top of the second inning.

With a little help.

Senior first baseman Leo Sullivan drew a four-pitch walk leading off, then junior shortstop Conor Fell hit a possible double play ground ball to Gautreau, but Gautreau’s throw to Cheever at second was wide for an error and both runners were safe. Swift fanned Ketchum, but the No. 9 hitter, junior second baseman Robbie Hanscom, drew a walk on a full count to load the bases and Brown followed by flying out to left with Sullivan coming home on the play. Joyce then grounded into a third-to-second force out, keeping the score 2-1.

In the bottom of the second, senior designated hitter Ben Damasco watched strike three on a 3-2 pitch, then senior rightfielder Max Gilbert bounced out to first unassisted, but Gautreau drew a walk, then Cheever beat out an infield single as Ketchum dove and snared the ball with his glove, but couldn’t make a throw. That brought up Swift with another chance to help himself, but this time, Swift popped out to second to end the threat.

Swift had his best inning in the top of the third, catching Gullison looking at strike three, fanning Jacobsohn, then getting Carr to fly to right on the first pitch.

Bradford led off the bottom half with a single down the leftfield line and after Lowenstein grounded into a third-to-second force out, Janczuk singled to the hole and both runners moved up on an error by Fell. Yarmouth couldn’t take advantage, however, as Halsted sent Lowenstein home on a squeeze play, but when Gagnon couldn’t make contact, Lowenstein was out easily. Gullison then fanned Gagnon for the third out.

Consecutive errors seemingly set the table for a big Wildcats inning in the top of the fourth, but instead, they came up empty.

Sullivan led off by grounding to third, but the ball got through Gagnon. Fell then hit another apparent double play grounder to Gautreau, who again threw wide of the bag and just like that, York had runners at first and second with no one out.

But Swift bore down and fanned Ketchum and even better for the home team, senior catcher Graeme Roux threw behind Sullivan and picked him off for the second out. Hanscom then grounded out to Cheever at short and the score remained 2-1.

“Staying away from a big inning is big for me,” Swift said. “I did a better job today staying composed when I had runners on and was behind in counts. That’s probably why I got out of jams.”

“David pitched his way out,” said Halsted. “He struggled early in innings, then came back and was highly competitive. He’s still learning he’s a really good pitcher.”

The Clippers then did a little of everything, except score, in the bottom of the fourth.

Damasco led off with an infield single up the middle. After Gilbert struck out swinging, Gautreau walked and senior courtesy runner Ian O’Connor took second. Cheever swung at the first pitch he saw and bounced into a short-to-second force for the second out. Swift then hit a ground ball to third that turned into an adventure. The throw to first appeared to be in time, but at the last minute, Swift tried to elude the tag and was ruled safe, allowing O’Connor to score, but after a discussion, the umpiring crew agreed that Swift was out and the run came off the board.

Brown led off the top of the fifth with a walk, but Swift immediately picked him off. Swift then fanned Joyce and got Gullison to ground out to Gagnon at third, who made a nice play before throwing out the runner.

Yarmouth finally got some insurance in the bottom half, as Bradford and Lowenstein provided lightning and thunder.

Bradford just missed a home run leading off, driving the ball deep to left for a double.

That brought up Lowenstein, who didn’t miss.

After falling behind in the count 0-2, Lowenstein took two balls, then he went down and hammered a Gullison offering, driving it deep to left and it sailed over the fence for a two-run home run.

Yarmouth senior Sam Lowenstein rounds third and heads for home as Clippers coach Marc Halsted offers his congratulations.

Lowenstein is mobbed at home by his teammates after the first home run of his competitive life. Hoffer photos.

“I got down 0-2 and was just trying to work the count and move Bradford over to third, but I got the right pitch and I just gave it a ride,” said Lowenstein, Yarmouth’s Colby College-bound ace pitcher, who didn’t just hit his first home run of the season or of his high school career, but of his life. “I thought it had a chance but I wasn’t positive. It felt great. All the boys got hyped. It’s great to get those runs across the way (David) was pitching.”

” I’m obviously happy for (Sam), but I’m not happy he got one before me,” joked Swift.

“That ball was absolutely crushed,” Halsted added. “That was (former Yarmouth standout) Nick Whittaker-like. He hit one once two-thirds of the way up the trees once against NYA, but Sam hit a bomb with these new bats. In our spring trip, he hit six or seven home runs in one (batting practice), so he’s got it in him. It was fun to see it materialize. He was short and quick to a ball. He took a smart approach and good things happened.”

After Janczuk struck out swinging, Gagnon singled to right, but Damasco grounded into a second-to-short-to-first double play.

Swift kept momentum in Yarmouth’s favor in the top of the sixth, getting Jacobsohn to watch strike three, Carr to fly out to center and Sullivan to ground out to third to end his outing.

The Clippers tacked on another run in the bottom half against Brown, who came on in relief.

Senior Aaron Mason led off by drawing a walk on a 3-2 pitch, then Gilbert returned to the game to run. Gilbert promptly stole second and moved to third on an errant throw. After Gautreau grounded back to the mound, Cheever delivered the run with a line drive to center that was deep enough to bring Gilbert home. Swift lined out deep to center, but the score was 5-1 heading for the seventh inning.

Cheever came on to close the door and he made quick work of the Wildcats, getting Fell to ground out to second, Ketchum to chase strike three and finally Hanscom to ground to short to end it.

“It’s big when every single person in our lineup can make a play,” Swift said. “Everyone wants to compete.”

“Everyone’s been battling at the plate,” said Lowenstein. “Everyone goes up there with a purpose. Our pitching has been really good, throwing strikes and staying out of big innings.”

“I feel comfortable with a one-run lead, we’ve had enough of them the past couple weeks, but it was nice for my sanity’s sake to be up three and have some toys to play with,” Halsted added.

Yarmouth out-hit York, 11-1, as Bradford, Cheever, Janczuk and Lowenstein each produced a pair.

Bradford scored twice, while Gautreau, Gilbert and Lowenstein all touched home plate once.

Lowenstein drove in two runs, while Cheever and Smith each had one RBI.

The Clippers left six runners on base.

Swift earned the victory, allowing just one unearned run on one hit in six innings. He walked three and struck out seven.

“It was a combination of having control over my fastball and curveball most of the game, which was nice,” said Swift.

“I think (David) mixed his pitches well,” Lowenstein said. “He was throwing different pitches in different counts and stayed in control and composed.”

Cheever then produced a scoreless, hitless top of the seventh, fanning one.

York’s run was scored by Sullivan and was driven in by Brown, who also had his team’s only hit.

The Wildcats stranded five.

Gullison took the loss, giving up four runs (three earned) on 11 hits in five innings of work. Gullison walked three and struck out four.

Brown surrendered an unearned run in one hitless inning of relief. He walked one.

“We ran ourselves into some trouble today,” said York coach Nick Hanlon. “That comes down to execution. We talked about playing against a Yarmouth team with all this experience and if you hang your head for a second, they’ll take another base and take momentum and that’s what they did. For a lot of these guys it was the first time playing against a Marc Halsted-coached team and we always learn lessons when we play against him. He’s good at exploiting weaknesses and he found some today. We had our game plan, which was to do some running on the bases, but we were a little overly aggressive at times and against a team like (Yarmouth), full of juniors and seniors, will exploit that. I thought as the game went on, David Swift grew into the game and got his off-speed pitch going. We know teams will do that to us because of the way we hit the ball, so we’ll go back to the drawing board and work on our approach in off-speed counts.”

Halfway there

The teams meet again Memorial Day in York, but that might as well be light years down the road considering the obstacles the Clippers and Wildcats have to overcome in the interim.

York (currently ranked fourth in the Class B South Heal Points standings) returns to action Wednesday with another tough test, at Greely. The Wildcats get a chance to avenge a loss when Poland pays a visit Friday.

“I think Class B South is the most exciting region,” Hanlon said. “It’s going to be a fun stretch here. This is the first time in awhile we play these top teams twice, so it’s going to be a fun season. We have to learn from experiences like this.”

Yarmouth, meanwhile, is in the midst of a gauntlet, as it plays at Freeport Wednesday, hosts Cape Elizabeth Friday, then welcomes Greely next Wednesday. The Clippers are second in Class B South at press time.

“I think we all just really want it,” said Lowenstein. “Everyone’s had big-game experience and it helps.”

“We have a goal this year and we’ll do anything to achieve it,” Swift said. “It’s a special group to be around knowing the potential we have. Coach always says that Class B South is legit. Class A teams don’t have schedules like we do. Good teams we play like York, Cape, Greely, just to name a few, it’s just great competition.”

“It’s absolutely an honor to be a Class B team to play against programs like Freeport and Greely and York and Wells that we have so much respect for,” Halsted added. “It’s just a blast in Class B. Every day is hard, but these guys are very much self-motivated. I can coach them up and do my thing, but you just love kids like that. They want to have fun and help the ballclub. It’s a good culture.”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. 

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