Morse High School baseball coach Garrett Olson jumped high inside his third-base coaching box when Zach Groat lined a hard shot foul in the bottom of the seventh inning in a 6-6 game at Kelley Field on Thursday.

Groat’s next swing, a high drive that easily cleared the left-field fence for the slugger’s second home run of the game, had the coach and his team jumping for joy as the third-seeded Shipbuilders walked off with a 7-6 Western Maine Class B quarterfinal victory over No. 6 Gray-New Gloucester.

Groat’s heroics were needed after the Patriots, down 6-1 in the top of the seventh, rallied with two outs to score five runs to tie the game.

“They put up a good rally in the seventh, and when I went out and took Zach out (two walks, a hit batter, one hit), I said, ‘no big deal. You’re leading off, just hit a home run,’ and he did,” said Olson, whose team will take on Falmouth on Saturday. “When he hit that one foul, when he starts hitting balls over there, look out. I knew what was coming, and he got a pitch he could handle and hit it out.”

Groat was 4-for-4, including a two-run home run in the third inning for a 3-0 Morse advantage.

“I have been sick for about a week, and didn’t feel good today,” said Groat. “I knew it was gone off the bat. Everyone worked hard, and I can’t say how proud I am of this team. We came around, and everyone was hitting today.”

Patriots rally

Down by five in the seventh, Morse starting pitcher Trent Moore was one out away from a three-hit complete game. But, Austen Keenan turned on a Moore pitch for a two-run home run to get Gray-New Gloucester to within three, 6-3. An error kept the rally going, with assistant coach Rick Davis paying a visit to the mound.

“Trent is as competitive as they come, and it was great to see him pitch well,” said Olson of his starter, who went 6.2 innings, with five strikeouts and three walks. “We gave him a chance to win the game, one more guy, and it didn’t work out. But, we got the win.”

Groat relieved with two runners on, and Aaron Boulos singled to load the bases. A walk to Kevin Cavallaro forced in a run, and Groat hit Pat Robinson with a twostrike curveball to make it a 6-5 game. A walk to Adam Healy, the 10th hitter of the frame, forced in the tying run.

Olson turned to lefty Aaron Barrett, who retired Evan Baggs on a flyball to center field, setting up Groat’s walkoff hit.

“We haven’t faced these teams, and hadn’t heard about these guys, but we were able to get it done and come away with the win,” said Groat. “I was struggling on the mound, and Aaron came in and saved us.”

Morse jumped on top in the third inning. Chris Paulus’ two-out single scored Barrett, who had walked, moved to second on an error and to third on a passed ball. Groat’s long drive well past the center field fence made it 3-0.

“We moved the lineup around a little, and when we did our stats we came to find out that Chris was hitting .500, and was hitting too low in the lineup,” said Olson. “He puts the ball in play nearly every time.”

The Patriots scored a run off of Moore in the sixth. Two errors cost the Shipbuilders, as Tim Lerette came home on a sacrifice fly by Robinson.

Morse seemed to put the game away in the home half of the sixth.

Barrett’s two-run single scored pinch runner Trevor Bernier and Wade Hunt, while an error allowed Paul Whalen to scamper to the plate.

Gray-New Gloucester pitcher

Kyle Nielsen went the distance. He permitted 10 hits and four walks while striking out three. Keenan was 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs, while Healy reached base three times (single, two walks).

Liam McDonough was 2- for-3, while Barrett singled, walked twice and drove in three runs.

No. 3 Morse 7, No. 6 Gray-NG 6

Western Maine Class B Quarterfinal
At Kelley Field in Bath
G-NG — 000 001 5 — 6- 5-3
Morse — 003 003 1 — 7-10-4
Kyle Nielsen and Tim Lerette; Trent
Moore, Zach Groat (7), Aaron Barrett (7)
and Wade Hunt.
Home runs — (G-NG) Austen Keenan;
(Mo) Zach Groat 2.
Repeat hitters — (G-NG) Austen Keenan;
(Mo) Zach Groat (4), Liam McDonough.
Records — Morse 13-4, G-NG 11-7.
Next for the Shipbuilders — Saturday at
Falmouth, time to be announced, in Western B semifinals.