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FREEPORT – When a coach watches the first three batters of the game reach via a walk, error and hit batsman, they are able to see what their starter is made up of, to see if the hurler can reach back, recompose himself and get back on track.
That was the case Monday afternoon as Wells threatened in the first, but starter Heath Cockburn worked out of the bases-loaded jam with no outs, allowing only one run and the offense came through with some timely hitting as the Falcons cruised to a 5-1 Western Maine Conference high school baseball game victory.
“He battled right there for us, bases loaded and no outs and to give up just one run, that was huge,” Freeport (2-0) coach Kyle Goodrich said. “That kind of set the tone and gave us our legs to kind of build on and look at this and say ‘no problem, we can come back.'”
Cockburn finished with six strikeouts, four walks and the hit batter in five innings. A check-swing single to left by Tyler Carpenter in the third inning was the Warriors’ only hit against the righty.
Tyler Bridge led off the game with a walk and stole second. Gary Andrews reached on a throwing error and Matt Tufts was hit to load the bases. Cockburn struck out the next hitter and was able to get a pop out from Nate Chandler, but a walk to Cory Dufort forced in the first run of the game. A line out to second base by the next hitter ended the inning.
“I didn’t feel comfortable at the beginning, but I found it somehow in the middle of the inning,” Cockburn said, who threw 27 pitches in the opening frame. “I was able to throw strikes to get some ground balls to get out of it. Coaches told me to stay in it, no matter what the count is, keep pitching no matter what.”
“He was telling us he was good to go, one thing about Heath is that he is one of the hardest working kids on the team. You come into the gym whether it’s on the mound or swinging, he just goes to work, that speaks volumes right there. Things weren’t going his way, he’s not a kid that is going to put his head down and pout, he’s just going to battle, battle, battle. I think the team jumped behind him because ‘ok, you got us out of that, we’ve got you the rest of the way.'”
Meanwhile, Carpenter was battling on the mound for Wells (1-2). The left-hander was constantly around the plate, not overpowering the Falcons, but pitching to contact and letting the defense make plays. Through the first three innings, the Falcons managed just a Gabe Wagner single in the second.
In the home half of the fourth, Wagner ripped a one-out single to center and moved to second following a groundout. Kempton Von Glinsky-Gregoire was hit by Carpenter two pitches later, bringing second-baseman Anthony Panciocco to the plate. The sophomore tied the game with a single and came around to score, along with Von Glinsky-Gregoire on a Liam Holt base hit to put Falcons ahead, 3-1.
“Big two-out hit from Anthony and another huge one from Liam,” Goodrich said about the timely hitting. “We knew if we kept swinging away, get our timing down, hack away and have an approach, we were going to hit. We may have been a little aggressive early on with Carpenter, he’s good and always around the plate, changing speeds.
“We talk about ‘we, not me’ and this group believes we can go out and come back from any deficit.”
Working with a two-run lead, Cockburn cruised in the fifth, striking out the No. 1 and No. 3 batters and getting Carpenter to fly out with a runner on.
“I have confidence in myself and knew I could do better than I did early on so I just stayed in it continued to work and throw strikes, Cockburn said after a shaky start. “I knew we could score off this pitcher, we were hitting right at people early on. It felt good to get on the board, especially with two-out hits.”
Freeport added two more runs in the fifth off three hits. After an error led off the frame, Ericksen Shea followed with a double over the left fielder’s head. Wells’ relay throw was on the mark and the runner was cut down at the plate trying to score. Next hitter, Shea Wagner, hit a ball that fell between the left and center fielders and Wagner legged out a triple. The senior came into score on Toby Holt’s RBI base knock to round out the scoring.
Blaine Cockburn (1 1/3) and Toby Holt (2/3) pitched the final two frames of hitless ball to secure the win for the Falcons, who will host Greely on Wednesday, at 4 p.m..
Carpenter took the loss for Wells, pitching six innings, allowing seven hits while striking out two. The lefty did not allow a walk, but did hit two batters.

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