Despite falling behind 1-0 in the first inning, Saco battled back and dominated the rest of the way, beating Lewiston on both the mound and at the plate.
Saco coach Ryan Chessie was happy with his team’s performance, especially his pitchers.
“We did great, Henry Lausier is normally our catcher and today we gave him the start. He throws strikes and lets them him the ball to our defense, he came up huge and really got us started,” said Chessie. “Josh Penney came in and got (eight) outs with 20 pitches, and now we’re in good shape for our rematch with Old Town which is just what we wanted.”
Lewiston jumped out to an early lead in the first inning. Tanner Ancil led the game off with a single, followed by and RBI triple the next at-bat from Austin Vincent. Lausier would then get the next three batters out to stabilize the attack.
“They started off getting a single and a triple in the inning and only scored one run … that was enormous for us,” said Chessie.
The Saco bats took off in the bottom of the first, scoring three runs and taking the lead. Jeremiah Chessie and Josh Ney hit RBI singles, along with Brady Kezal who knocked in another run.
Saco added to its lead in the second inning, thanks to RBI doubles from Chessie and Justin Labelle, as well as an RBI from Lausier to take the 6-1 lead.
Lewiston would make things interesting in the third inning, scoring three runs on a bases-clearing double from Zack Bean to cut the lead to 6-4.
Saco responded in the next half inning, scoring four more runs and putting the game out of reach.
Chessie would add another RBI double, along with an RBIs from Ney and Labelle. Saco would add another run on a passed ball.
Ney would later add a two-run single in the fifth inning to make the score 12-4.
Lausier took the hill for Saco, pitching two innings and allowing three runs on three hits while striking out two batters. Penney pitched the next 2 2/3, allowing one run on three hits while collecting four strikeouts. Penney would be named the game MVP for his performance.
A key factor in Saco’s win was its ability to produce under pressure and play as a team.
“These kids have done this for awhile and they’re a special group, they’re an uncommon group,” said Chessie. “They play well under pressure, they get along together and they really play well as a team.”
Saco will play Old Town today, and hope to get some revenge on a team that handed it a loss earlier this week.
“We’re definitely going to play to win. We need to play to win – our pitchers need to do what they’ve been doing, and our bats … if we want any chance of having our pitchers ready for Thursday and Friday then we’re going to need to hit and score a lot of runs.”
— Sports Staff Writer Alex Sponseller can be reached at sports@journaltribune.com or at 282- 1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.
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