BATH

Trenton Moore struck out the side in the top of the first inning, and followed it up by leading off the home half of the opening frame with a single.

Not a bad start for the Morse High School pitcher/lead-off hitter.

And, the end wasn’t too shabby either, as the Shipbuilders scored seven sixthinning runs to put away Oak Hill, 12-1, in a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference baseball game on Friday.

The game was the opening contest of the season for the Shipbuilders, as well as their debut in Class B baseball competition.

“Once the guys saw us score some runs in the early going, we seemed to settle down,” said Morse (1-0) assistant coach Rick Davis, standing in for head coach Garrett Olson, currently attending the Police Academy. “We had some guys away for the break, so we had to call up some players from the jayvee to start today. They were a little bit nervous.” Moore ended up with a nohitter, with eight strikeouts, two walks and one unearned run allowed. He threw 86 pitches.

“I didn’t notice that I had a no-hitter until the end,” said Moore. “The outside pitch was the main thing today. I didn’t really use my curveball. I just was able to throw strikes. We came to play, and knew we had to come to this game ready. We did!”

Leading 5-0 heading to the sixth, Morse took advantage of tiring Oak Hill (0-2) pitcher Sam Morin and two costly fielding errors. Aaron Doughty ripped an RBI single to make it a 6-0 game, and Zach Groat added his third RBI before Wade Hunt delivered a three-run double.

“Trenton threw strikes, Wade Hunt cleared the bases with a big hit. It was a good day,” said Davis, who will guide the Shipbuilders at Leavitt (1-0) today at 4:15 p.m., weather permitting. “They came together as a team. They adjusted well, especially in the later innings.”

Good start

Moore’s lead-off single and Gary Stevens’ single to right field put two runners on in the first. A balk moved the runners up a base, and Groat lifted a flyball to left field for an RBI and a 1-0 Shipbuilders lead.

With two outs, Liam McDonough’s grounder was misplayed for an error, allowing Stevens to score, and Chris Paulus singled to score McDonough for a 3-0 edge after an inning.

Morin recovered, holding Morse without a run in the second and third innings, while Moore struck out five of the first nine batters he faced through three scoreless frames.

The Raiders squeezed their only run across in the fourth. Brady Dion walked and stole second base. An error moved him to third, but Dion was cut down at the plate when Stevens’ throw to catcher Hunt on a double-steal attempt was in time. However, a second error in the inning allowed Morin to score to cut the Shipbuilder advantage to 3-1.

Morse got the run back in the home half of the inning as Ethan Winglass singled with two outs to plate Paulus, who had reached on an infield single and stole second and third base.

Moore singled to open the Morse fifth and came home on a triple by Groat.

Davis feels the competition in Class B suits the Shipbuilders well.

“We’re not traveling up to Lewiston and Bangor, schools twice as big as us,” said Davis. “We are now going up against schools that are our size, and nobody really knows what to expect.”

Moore, Paulus (2-for-2, two walks) and Groat both had two hits to pace the Morse offense, which belted out 10 hits.

Morin went the distance for Oak Hill, with just three earned runs allowed. He struck out four and walked four, hit a batter and committed two balks.

Morse 12,
Oak Hill 1

At Bath
Oak Hill — 000 100 — 1 -0-4
Morse — 300 117 — 12-10-3
Sam Morin and Jacob Banister; Trenton Moore and Wade Hunt.
Double — (Mo) Wade Hunt.
Triple — (Mo) Zach Groat.
Repeat hitters — (Mo) Trenton
Moore, Zach Groat, Chris Paulus.
Records — Morse 1-0, Oak Hill 0-2.
Next for the Shipbuilders — Today at
Leavitt, 4:15 p.m.