CAPE ELIZABETH — Cape Elizabeth center fielder Cooper Hoffman missed one opportunity to make a key defensive play Monday, but not a second.
Capers pitcher Sean Agrodnia let a lead slip away, but then came through at the plate when it mattered most.
All in all, it proved to be a day of redemption at Holman Field, where Cape Elizabeth moved on from a difficult stretch of late-inning losses with a cathartic come-from-behind 4-3 victory against Yarmouth in a late-season Western Maine Conference baseball showdown.
After letting a 2-0 lead slip away in the fifth inning, the Capers made it 3-3 in the sixth on a Clippers throwing error.
Hoffman then threw out the potential go-ahead run at the plate in the top of the seventh, and Agrodnia hit a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the inning to give Cape Elizabeth a victory that improved its record to 9-4.
“All around, it was a great-played game,” said Capers Coach Andy Wood. “We rode the highs and the lows. It was a fun game to watch. I tip my cap to the guys to be able to battle back.”
Cape Elizabeth appeared en route to a decisive win when it scored twice in the first. Finn Bowe drew a bases-loaded walk off Yarmouth starter Ethan Belesca and after Belesca was replaced by Jason Lainey, a wild pitch scored another run.
But Lainey settled down and keep the Clippers in the game and the offense, which hit the ball hard all day, finally got to Agrodnia in the fifth.
With two on and two outs, Jack Romano hit a deep drive to center that got over Hoffman’s head for a two-run, game-tying double.
“It should have been caught. I just misread it,” Hoffman said.
Agrodnia left in favor of Jameson Bakke, who was greeted by a first-pitch Jackson Caruso RBI single.
After losing four of their last six games, the Capers could have resigned themselves to another painful loss, but in the bottom of the sixth, Bowe, who worked out a jam after replacing Bakke in the top half of the inning, singled, was sacrificed to second and, after taking third on a groundout, scored on a throwing error.
Singles by James Waaler and Romano, plus an intentional walk, loaded the bases for Yarmouth in the top of the seventh before Dom Morrill hit a fly ball to medium center. Waaler was then thrown out on a perfect strike from Hoffman to end the inning.
“I don’t usually make those throws so I was surprised,” Hoffman said. “It was the best feeling all year.”
Bakke then sparked the winning rally in the bottom half, doubling to left-center. After Carson Sullivan popped out, and Brendan Tinsman and Ryan Weare were intentionally walked, Agrodnia came up with the bases loaded and lined a single through a five-infielder alignment to score Bakke to end it.
“It was easy for me,” said Agrodnia. “Bases loaded, one out. All I had to do was put a ball through the infield.”
Bowe (1-0) earned the win in relief.
Yarmouth (7-6) had 11 hits. Romano, Waaler and Ben Norton had two apiece. Lainey (0-1) was the loser despite 52/3 solid innings of relief.
“We’ll just turn the page on this,” said Clippers Coach Marc Halsted.
“We keep track of hard-hit balls and we had 14 today. Every kid hit a rocket. That’s baseball, but we’ll finish strong.”
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