FREEPORT
The Freeport High School baseball team came into Friday’s Western Maine Conference matchup with a lot of confidence against Poland, Western Maine Class B’s top-ranked team.
Earlier in the season, the Falcons had beaten Poland, 5-3 in arguably their best performance of the season.
Prior to the game, Freeport coach Bill Ridge told his team, “We’ve got to come out with a lot of energy. They’re a great team and it’s got to start right now.” The Falcons looked pumped up and ready to play as they took the field in the first inning, knowing what it takes to beat a team like Poland.
Instead, it was the Knights that came out fired up, taking a 7-1 lead through two frames and cruising to a 20-5 victory.
The loss gives Freeport a 4-8 record, while Poland improved to 9-3.
In the early going, Caleb Brigham picked up a tworun single for the Knights, and Lukas Johnson launched his first of two home runs, a three-run shot, to put the Falcons in an early hole.
Freeport did battle back, closing to 7-5. The home team’s two strongest innings were in the second and third when the Falcons rallied.
In the second, Freeport’s Ben Humphrey and Jack Davenport both singled. Niko DiFazio ripped a tworun single to highlight the frame as the Falcons scored three runs. Freeport scored its final run in the third to get to within two.
However, Poland scored the final 13 runs to pull away.
One of the biggest problems for the Falcons was inconsistency to hit the strike zone. Falcon pitchers Bennett Hight, Nate Cyr, Caleb Rice and Josh Spaulding combined to walk 12 Poland hitters, with the Knights scoring 20 runs on just 10 hits. The teams combined on 17 free passes.
Toward the end of the game the energy the Falcons had in the beginning of the game that Ridge talked about was drifting off. A second home run by Johnson, another three-run shot, made its way over the center field fence.
At the plate, Freeport finished with seven hits. Humphrey who was 3-for-4 with three singles and a stolen base, while DiFazio singled twice and drove in a pair of runs.
Johnson finished with six RBIs and scored three runs to pace the Knights. Jake Simard singled three times.
Freeport is slated to visit Traip Academy today at 4 p.m.
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