Portland 4

Westbrook 2

A strange play in the second inning allowed Portland to score two runs and that turned out to be the winning margin as the Bulldogs defeated Westbrook 4-2 on Tuesday.

Portland batter Josh Waxman popped out with the bases loaded. Ryan Arsenault, who was on third base, tagged up and headed for home and beat Christian Hamilton’s throw. The ball sailed to the backstop and Connor McNeill came around to score from second. That one series of plays gave the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead.

“There was a goofy play in the second inning that got us down 2-0,” said Westbrook coach John Eisenhart. “You wish you could take that goofy play away and we’d still be playing. With a pitcher like (Ian) Boyle you can’t give them anything. You have to make all the plays and capitalize. If that play doesn’t happen, maybe we can get into their second pitcher and maybe have a chance.”

But that play did happen and the Blazes spent the rest of the game playing catch-up. The deficit would grow even larger in the fourth inning. A leadoff double and a walk gave Portland two runners on with one out. Boyle laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over and Scott Nappi doubled to score them both giving the Bulldogs a 4-0 lead.

The Blazes were able to cut into the deficit in the bottom of the fourth. Christian Hamilton led off the inning with a double. It looked as though he might be stranded there when the next two batters were retired. But Hamilton tried to steal third with Mike Tanguay at the plate. The catcher’s throw was high and Hamilton scampered home with the first Westbrook run. Tanguay then singled and took second on a wild throw to first. Shawn McAlpine hit an infield grounder and he also reached when the first baseman missed the throw and allowing another run to score making it a 4-2 game.

“I have a great group of kids,” said Eisenhart. “They battled to get back into that game. We tried to put some pressure on them with Christian stealing third, then they had the overthrow and that worked. But we just couldn’t get anything going. You have to tip your hat to Boyle, he pitched a great game.”

Aside from the odd play in the second inning, Hamilton only allowed a pair of runs himself. He struck out five batters in seven innings and gave up 10 hits. Hamilton also put his pick-off move to good use, getting Nappi in the first inning and narrowly missing several others.

“He gets stronger as the year goes on and as the game goes on,” said his battery-mate Tanguay. “The later it gets, the stronger he gets. He started getting into it in the third and fourth and started throwing good stuff.”

The defense for Westbrook also helped keep the game close. In the sixth, Portland had a great opportunity to add to their lead. With runners at first and second and two outs, Justin D’Andrea singled. The throw from Adam Hamilton came in fast and Tanguay caught the runner as he was rounding third. After a short run-down the Blazes tagged him out and the inning was over.

“I feel really good because I think we’re playing very good baseball right now,” Eisenhart said. “This is when you want to be playing good baseball. I think we need to continue to get better. We have about 10 days or so to get ready for the tournament and we’re going to use those 10 days to work on getting better as a baseball team.”

Tuesday’s game would have been a big win for the Blazes as they fight for seeding position for the tournament.

“I think if we play well, we’re going to be a very difficult team to beat in the tournament,” said Eisenhart. “We don’t look at any team and think ‘wow they are better than us.’ We know if we play well, we can compete with any of the top teams in the league. And I think we’ve shown that.”

The loss drops the Blazes record to 8-6. Westbrook was scheduled to finish their regular season on Thursday against Windham. The West A tournament gets underway on June 5.