TOPSHAM

The American Legion Zone III baseball season is getting down to the nittygritty, with teams trying to either line up for a playoff position or just get into the playoffs, period!

Two teams trying to get in are Brunswick and Highland Green, which faced off on Thursday at Mt. Ararat High School.

The game took eight innings, with Highland Green coming away with a 3-2 victory and a 5-6 record, while Brunswick, with just five games remaining, dropped its seventh straight to fall to 3-10. (See Legion standings on B3).

With the bases loaded in the home half of the eighth, Joey Van Note’s safety squeeze bunt with the bases loaded scored pinch runner Eddie Stewart for the walk-off win.

“It was a grinder, and Brunswick played really good today,” said Highland Green coach Bob Neron, whose squad has back-to-back doubleheaders this weekend against Bessey Motors on Saturday and Locke Mills of Bethel on Sunday. Both games will be played at Mt. Ararat High School. “This is a good time to be getting it together, and today we were able to get some base runners on. We just need to find that key hit.

“If we can win three out of four this weekend, we are right there. Once in, you never know.”

Highland Green used three walks from Brunswick reliever Parker Wild to load the bases in the eighth, with Van Note coming to the plate.

“I walked up to coach, and I knew we had one out, and I said I could lay it down and get the win,” said Van Note, who was 0-for-4 before the game-winning bunt. “This is always a big rivalry, Brunswick and Mt. Ararat. We knew it would be close. This is a big win, and with the doubleheaders this weekend, we need to get some more wins to get into the playoffs.”

The game featured solid pitching performances from Brunswick starter Brett Lancaster and Highland Green’s Brady Murray. Lancaster pitched the first seven innings. He scattered nine hits, struck out five and walked four while throwing 120 pitches.

“I was able to mix pitches around and mainly just battle,” said Lancaster. “I hunkered down when they got runners into scoring position. We are always just so close, and things just never seem to go in our direction.”

Meanwhile Murray went the distance. He fired 114 pitches, struck out nine, walked three and allowed six hits.

Highland Green early

Ryan Lathrop, who was 3-for-3 and walked twice in his five plate appearances, singled to open the Highland Green first frame. A fielder’s choice by Van Note and a flyball followed. But, Van Note stole second and scampered home on a single by Murray for a 1-0 lead.

A walk to Zach Miller in the second was followed by a long RBI double by No. 9 hitter Brandon Morrell to double Highland Green’s lead.

Brunswick cut its deficit in half in the fourth when Elias Henze singled in Wild, who had doubled with one out.

The score remained the same until the seventh inning when Brunswick tied things up. Evan Groat reached on an error and was sacrificed to second by Pearson Cost. Zach Lavoie’s two-out RBI single sent the game into extra innings.

But, walks to Miller, Morrell and Lathrop with one out in the eighth gave Highland Green the chance to win, and Van Note’s perfect bunt along the first-base line ended it.

“We didn’t want to give it away too soon, but I knew if Joey just got it on the ground, it was going to work,” said Neron.

Sam Coombs was 2-for-4 for Highland Green, while Lavoie was the lone repeat hitter for Brunswick.

LOCKE	MILL		7
SMITH-	TOBEY	11

After falling behind 4-0 in the first inning, Smith-Tobey Post 21 (6-6) roared back to earn a Zone III win at Kelley Field in Bath.

Smith-Tobey scored a combined seven runs in the second and third frames, but Bethel tied the contest with three runs in the fourth.

Smith-Tobey, behind a Wade Hunt home run, took the lead back and added three more runs down the stretch.

Liam McDonough earned the mound win for Smith-Tobey, which visits Brunswick for a doubleheader on Saturday at 9:30 a.m.