FREEPORT

Jack Davenport simply wasn’t touched.

The Freeport starting pitcher struck out 15 en route to a dominating season-opening high school 2-0 Western Maine Conference baseball win over Lake Region on Thursday.

“We know that he’s one of the best,” Freeport coach Bill Ridge said. “Not just on the team or in the conference, I mean he’s one of the best in the state. He just went out and proved it.”

“I’m feeling good,” Davenport said. “I knew I had to come out with a win.

Davenport, who tossed 88 pitches in the complete-game shutout, struck out five Lakers looking and pitched four 1- 2-3 innings. His only test came in the bottom of the seventh inning when a ground-rule double, dropped fly ball to center field and catcher’s interference call loaded the bases and put the game on the line.

Davenport promptly fanned the next two batters on six straight strikes to end the game.

“Jack (Davenport) just decided to take over. It sounds conceded to say, but that was not surprising — to see that kind of effort from him,” Ridge said.

“I knew that I had to step up,” Davenport said. “I just needed to throw as hard as I could — just win.”

Offensively, Freeport (1-0) was tested by pitcher Charlie McDonough of Lake Region (0-1), who cruised through the first three innings while striking out six.

“He did the same thing last year,” Ridge said of McDonough.

“He’s a good pitcher. He throws that knuckleball and he throws it effectively. It was tough to lay off of. I thought we did a pretty good job, but he kept us off balance.”

Things got messy for the road side in the fourth, when lead-off hitter Max Doughty reached first on a swinging third strike that reached the backstop. From there, another passed ball and a Colby Wagner RBI single moved Doughty home for the game’s first run.

Throughout the game, the Falcons took advantage of passed balls and errors and turned stolen bases into runners in scoring position.

“That was a goal for us today because not many teams have been outside,” Ridge said. “That’s not something being practiced. We just thought that would be a place we could kind of exploit and try and take advantage of.”

Lake Region, on just its second day outside of the young spring season, allowed two more stolen bases that led to Freeport’s second run. Bennett Hight, who stole both second and third base after singling up the middle, was driven home by a Ben Humphrey sacrifice fly to left field, making the score 2-0.

McDonough threw 66 pitches on four innings of work with no walks for the Lakers. Nate Smith came on in relief, throwing 42 pitches and striking out two batters while walking two.

Damon Knight, Jordan Williams and Smith recorded the only three hits of the game for Lake Region. Davenport walked just one batter and forced four groundouts for Freeport.

The Falcons are now headed down to North Carolina for the weekend, where they’ll play competition at Davidson College. They’ll practice on Davidson’s field and play a game under the lights on the trip, which was organized by the family of Wagner. Ridge said it was important to preface the long road trip with the right result.

“That was good,” he said of pulling out the win. “That could have been discouraging to lose that one, especially if they had come back in that seventh. That was good to get that one before going to North Carolina.”

“It boosts our confidence for games to come, and I think it’ll be fun,” Davenport said.

Freeport 2, Lake Region 0

At Freeport

Lake		Region	— 000	000	0	—	0-3-	3
Freeport		—	000	110	X	—	2-5-1

Charlie McDonough, Nate Smith (5) and Jordan Williams; Jack Davenport and Colby Wagner. Repeat hitters — (F) Colby Wagner, Jack Davenport. Doubles — (LR) Jordan Williams; (F) Jack Davenport. Record — Freeport 1-0, Lake Region 0-1. Up next for the Falcons — April 25 at Yarmouth, 4 p.m.