CAPE ELIZABETH

Freeport sophomore pitcher Heath Cockburn wasn’t perfect Monday afternoon. But he was pretty darned close.

And as a result, the Falcons earned a signature high school baseball Western Maine Conference victory at Holman Field, further establishing themselves as a top Class B South contender, while knocking host Cape Elizabeth from the unbeaten ranks in the process.

Cockburn, coming off a strong start in a win last week at perennial powerhouse Greely, took it to another level against the Capers’ potent offense, retiring the first 15 batters he faced.

Freeport gave Cockburn the only run he needed when senior shortstop Jack Sawicki and senior catcher Colby Wagner hit consecutive two-out doubles in the top of the third inning.

The game stayed 1-0 until the sixth, when the Falcons added a couple insurance runs. With the bases loaded and one out, junior centerfielder Eriksen Shea hit a sacrifice fly and on the play, a throwing error allowed another run to score.

That left all eyes on Cockburn, whose 15-up, 15-down perfection was well known at the field, although was left unspoken in the dugout.

Cockburn’s bid for baseball immortality ended in the bottom of the sixth, as Cape Elizabeth senior Carson Sullivan led off with a single, but Cockburn stranded him by retiring the next three hitters before closing out his masterpiece with a 1-2-3 seventh inning.

Cockburn allowed just one hit, no walks and faced one batter over the minimum as he led Freeport to a 3-0 victory, which lifted the Falcons to 5-3 on the season and dropped the Capers to 6-1.

“I felt great all game,” Cockburn said. “My curveball wasn’t on 100 percent during warmups, but it got better in the game. It’s the best game I’ve ever pitched. I had confidence going in. There was no reason to fear them.”

Hello, again

Freeport squandered a chance to take the lead in the top of the first. Junior third baseman Shea Wagner flew out to left to start the game, but Sullivan, who started for Cape Elizabeth, hit Sawicki with a pitch on the helmet, then hit Colby Wagner on the back. With junior first baseman Toby Holt at the plate, the Falcons attempted a hit-and-run, but Holt swung and missed and on the play, Tinsman easily threw out Sawicki at third. Holt kept the inning alive by reaching on an infield single, which moved Wagner up to third and Cockburn followed with a ground ball down the third-base line which looked like a sure hit and run, but Capers senior third baseman Sean Agrodnia made a nice backhanded stab, then threw a strike across the diamond to beat Cockburn in a bang-bang play to end the frame.

Cockburn started strong, by getting Cape Elizabeth senior shortstop Finn Bowe to fly to left before fanning senior second baseman Val Murphy swinging and Tinsman looking.

Sullivan set Freeport down in order in the second, getting sophomore right-fielder Gabe Wagner to pop to short, Senior left-fielder Caleb Salter to look at strike three and junior designated hitter Finn Johnston to pop out to short.

In the bottom half, Cockburn struck out Weare swinging, got Agrodnia to pop out foul to Colby Wagner at the backstop and induced a ground out to second off the bat of junior first baseman Alec Riggle.

The Falcons then broke through in the third.

Sullivan got Shea to ground out to Bowe leading off, with Bowe making a nice throw from the hole. Shea Wagner then grounded out to first and that was it for Sullivan, who was replaced by Riggle (Sullivan went to third base and Agrodnia moved to first).

Riggle was on the verge of ending the inning when he got ahead of Sawicki 0-2, but Sawicki belted a double to left-center. That brought up Colby Wagner, who ripped a shot down the first-base line that got past Agrodnia for a double which allowed Sawicki to score easily. Holt followed with a single to left, but Capers senior Zachaois Fitz easily threw out Wagner at the plate to end the frame with Freeport on top, 1-0.

“We try to make things happen on the bases,” said Falcons coach Bill Ridge. “That’s how we’ve scored a lot of our runs and won games. We tried it today and they cut us down a few times, so give them credit.”

Cockburn made quick work of the Capers’ 4-5-6 hitters in the bottom half of the fifth, and at that juncture, Cockburn had faced 15 batters and retired them all.

And everyone in attendance was aware of it, even if they were keeping it hush-hush.

“I knew it,” Cockburn said. “My teammates didn’t talk to me. That’s a baseball thing.”

“Heath doesn’t really talk to anybody anyway, so that wasn’t a huge change,” Ridge said. “I didn’t hear anyone talking about (the perfect game). We were all aware he was having a special day.”

Freeport gave Cockburn some insurance in the sixth, thanks to some largesse from Cape Elizabeth. Cockburn struck out swinging to start the frame, but Gabe Wagner lined a single up the middle and Salter was hit by a pitch. Riggle then tried to pick off Wagner at second, but threw wildly, allowing both runners to move up. With the count 1-0 on Johnston, Riggle was replaced by Agrodnia, who threw two more balls to Johnston before Wood ordered him to be walked intentionally.

That set the stage for Shea, who had the biggest at-bat of the game. Shea was able to make contact with an Agrodnia fastball and drive it to medium-deep center. The ball was caught by Hoffman and on the play, Wagner scored easily. The throw came home to Tinsman, who tried to nab Salter taking third, but the throw was wild and Salter strolled home with another run.

“That was a big at-bat,” Ridge said. “We were hoping (Eriksen would) beat something out on the ground, but he made good contact. If that found a gap, that would have been three runs.”

The Falcons are back in action Wednesday, when Old Orchard Beach pays a visit. After going to Lincoln Academy Friday, Freeport has home showdowns against Yarmouth and Morse next week.

“I know we can compete with anyone,” Cockburn said. “There are a lot of good teams, but we should win a lot of games.”

“It’s crazy to think we’re halfway through the season already,” said Ridge. “We know we can compete with anybody. We rely on our aggressiveness and we work hard. I think we can make a run for different reasons (than the 2016 team which rose from the No. 8 seed to the regional title). We don’t have a 1-2 punch at the top (like 2016), but we’re more complete. We’re absolutely more athletic and aggressive than we were.”