PORTLAND—What a difference a year makes.
In 2023, Deering’s baseball team went 0-16, with a dozen of the losses coming via the 10-run mercy rule.
Fast forward to this season, where the Rams haven’t merely returned to competitiveness.
They’ve also returned to the playoffs and their story of resurgence is one of the best of the spring.
Tuesday afternoon, Deering played its final game at Hadlock Field, on Senior Day, and it was an invaluable senior who played a key role in a win over visiting Westbrook and fittingly, the way this season has gone, ace pitcher Avery Lawrence got plenty of help from his underclassmen teammates along the way.
Lawrence was superb for three innings, then worked out of a jam in the fourth and in the top of the fifth, he walked the high-wire, escaping a bases loaded, no out predicament.
That sparked the Rams’ offense and in the bottom of the fifth, junior shortstop Tavian Lauture delivered the game’s biggest blow, a two-out, RBI triple for the lead. Freshman catcher Miles Lawrence added an RBI single and Deering tacked on an unearned run in the sixth.
Avery Lawrence did the rest, posting his 10th strikeout to end it, and the Rams had a 3-0 victory.
Deering ended the regular season 6-10, ended the Blue Blazes’ campaign at 1-15 and will take part in the Class A South playoffs next Tuesday, at a foe to be determined.
“It’s huge to come from 0-16 last year to 6-10,” said Avery Lawrence, who will pitch next year at Husson University in Bangor. “We’ve had ups and downs, but we only got 10-run-ruled once this year. Day-by-day, confidence built. I knew we could piece it together.”
Building back
Under new coach Casey Lawrence, the father of Avery and Miles Lawrence, Deering has climbed its way back into contention this spring, with some memorable victories along the way.
After opening with losses at Biddeford (9-4), at Thornton Academy (6-3) and at home to Sanford (17-4, in six-innings), the Rams snapped a three-year, 24-game skid with a 4-3 victory at Windham. Deering then lost at home to Marshwood (10-0), at Noble (6-4) and at Massabesic (10-2) before earning its biggest victory in years, shocking host Scarborough, which entered the game undefeated, 8-7. The Rams then lost at Falmouth (6-0) before beating rival Portland, 1-0, in a game played at The Ballpark in Old Orchard Beach. After falling at home to Gorham (12-6), Deering beat visiting Bonny Eagle, 3-1, then rallied from nine-runs down to stun visiting Kennebunk (10-9). A 3-2 home loss to reigning state champion South Portland was followed by a 9-1 setback at Cheverus Saturday.
“I had high hopes,” Avery Lawrence said. “We knew the incoming freshmen would be important. We put in the work. The work ethic was there. The first inning of the Scarborough game I was like, ‘Wow, we can actually do this.'”
“At the beginning of the season, we just wanted to improve anyway we could, day-by-day, and take small steps to build the program back up,” said Casey Lawrence.
Westbrook has had a challenging campaign, which included a midseason coaching change. The Blue Blazes dropped their first 13 games, then got in the win column against Bonny Eagle (4-3). Westbrook’s most recent outing resulted in a 17-1 (five-inning) loss to Thornton Academy last Wednesday.
A year ago, the Blue Blazes beat the visiting Rams, 16-6, in five-innings.
Tuesday, on a near-perfect day for baseball (77 degrees with a steady breeze at first pitch), Deering returned the favor, beating Westbrook for the first time since May 5, 2018 (16-8 on the road), the first time at Hadlock Field since May 11, 2017 (3-1), snapping a four-game skid in the series and locking up a trip to the playoffs for the first time in a non-open tournament year since 2018.
Lawrence came out sizzling, fanning junior centerfielder Connor Girard and senior shortstop Connor Boulette before getting junior catcher Jason McCarthy to fly out to left.
Westbrook senior starter Zach Jalbert was just as impressive in the bottom half, getting Avery Lawrence to ground out sharply to short, Lauture to line out to second and Miles Lawrence to watch strike three.
Jalbert led off the top of the second by reaching on an infield single to third base, but junior first baseman Mitchel Violette flew out to left, junior third baseman Isaiah Tardif chased high heat for strike three, then senior rightfielder Jared Rice swung and missed at a nice off-speed pitch to end the threat.
In the bottom half, senior first baseman Jackson Forrest led off with a sharp double to left-center on the first pitch he saw. Senior centerfielder Andrew Cook then lined a 1-2 pitch just over the glove of junior second baseman Kyle Brown to put runners at the corners. With sophomore leftfielder Zeke Dewever at the plate, Cook was thrown out trying to steal, but Dewever drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch. Junior third baseman Alex Jordan struck out looking, but Dewever stole second, bringing up sophomore second baseman Zade Smith with two runners in scoring position, but Jalbert fanned him on a 3-2 pitch to keep the game scoreless.
Avery Lawrence made quick work of Westbrook in the top of the third, retiring Brown on a grounder to third and senior leftfielder Caleb Reid on a foul pop to first before getting Girard to fly out to center.
The Rams had another golden opportunity to get on the board in the bottom half, but ultimately stranded another runner in scoring position.
After freshman rightfielder Gus Groh watched strike three, Avery Lawrence crushed the first pitch he saw over the head of Girard all the way to the warning track for a stand-up triple. Lauture couldn’t deliver the run, popping out to center, then Miles Lawrence swung and missed at a high pitch for strike three.
Lauture and Miles Lawrence would get another chance, however, and each would gain redemption.
In the top of the fourth, Boulette fanned on three pitches, taking strike three, then McCarthy went the other way, crushing the first pitch he saw to deep left-center, good for a double. Lawrence got ahead of Jalbert 0-2, but hit him with his next offering to put two on. Violette then grounded the ball up the middle, Lawrence got a piece of the ball and it wound up going to Smith at second, who threw to Lauture for the force out, putting runners at the corners for Tardif, who grounded out to third.
In the bottom half, Forrest grounded out third, but on an 0-2 count, Cook took a pitch off the batting helmet. Cook stayed in the game and moved to second when Dewever reached on an error by Boulette at short, but Jordan lined out to first and with the runners on the move, Violette easily doubled off Dewever to end the inning.
Avery Lawrence then pulled off a great escape in the top of the fifth.
Rice drew a walk on a 3-1 pitch leading off, then Brown sacrificed him to second and when the throw went off Forrest’s glove for an error, the runners were at the corners. Lawrence got Reid to pop up near the mound and was prepared to make the catch when Forrest bumped into him and the ball dropped safely for another error, loading the bases with nobody out.
But Lawrence bore down, fanning Girard on three pitches, getting Boulette to pop back to him near the mound, then getting his glove in the right place at just the right time, snaring McCarthy’s first pitch line shot back up the middle to keep the score 0-0.
“Those errors fired me up,” Avery Lawrence said. “I had the mindset of trying to put us on my back and get us through it. I tried to throw the ball as hard as I could and hit my spots and it worked. (That last out) was pure reaction. It hit me right in the palm. I bobbled it a little bit, but held on.”
“I told the guys after the game that the Deering Rams of the past few years, when they had two errors, they would have crumbled, but we kept our heads up, stayed confident and made the plays we had to,” Casey Lawrence said.
The Rams then went on top in the bottom half.
Smith tried to bunt his way on leading off, but Jalbert got to the ball and threw him out. Groh then dunked a bloop single to left and took second on a wild pitch. Avery Lawrence then struck out swinging, leaving it up to Lauture, who came through with a flourish, crushing the ball to deep left-center, easily scoring Groh, and Lauture didn’t stop until he dove into third with an RBI triple.
“I saw the pitch and I knew it would find the gap,” Lauture said. “I was thinking of a hit I thought I had against Bonny Eagle where I was rounding the bases and the kid caught the ball and I was afraid it was going to happen again.”
“I knew we had the offense in us,” Avery Lawrence said. “That was a great hit.”
“I told (Tavian), ‘You’re due, man, just see one you can handle and poke it somewhere,'” Casey Lawrence added. “(Tavian) made it happen. It was a great two-strike approach, putting the ball in play and not trying to do too much.”
Miles Lawrence then provided some insurance, grounding an RBI single up the middle to score Lauture.
“That was right up the middle, a great hit,” Lauture said.
“(Miles) was a little down after two strikeouts, but he hung in there and kept swinging,” Casey Lawrence said.
While Forrest flew out to right, Deering had a 2-0 advantage.
Avery Lawrence protected the lead in the top of the sixth, fanning Jalbert and Violette and after Tardif lined a single to right and moved up to second on a passed ball, Lawrence struck out senior pinch-hitter Jake Mitchell.
In the bottom half, Boulette came on to pitch and registered two quick outs, fanning Cook and getting Dewever to pop out foul to first, but after freshman pinch-hitter Johnny Bechard singled the other way through the first and second base hole on a 1-2 pitch, Smith drew a walk on a 3-1 pitch and Groh popped out behind short, resulting in a dropped ball for an error, allowing Bechard to score. Avery Lawrence grounded out to first, but he had an insurance to take to the top of the seventh.
There, Lawrence walked sophomore pinch-hitter Anthony Rinaldi on a 3-2 pitch, but Reid lined out to center, senior pinch-hitter Owen LaPierre grounded softly to third, then Lawrence blew strike three past Boulette to make the 3-0 victory official.
“Nothing beats us winning on Senior Day on this field,” said Avery Lawrence. “It’s sad for the seniors to have to leave this field, but we’re still working and we still have next Tuesday.”
“It was a fun game,” said Lauture. “Playing with these guys, it’s been fun all year, winning or losing. We had hits throughout the whole game, we just couldn’t get the runs in, but we came out in the fifth and sixth and scored the runs we needed.”
“These close games are the most fun,” added Casey Lawrence. “They keep everybody engaged. To come out on top is great. I’m super-proud of the guys. This season has been very gratifying.”
Avery Lawrence threw a three-hit shutout, walking two and fanning 10, while hitting a batter.
“It was sentimental to pitch here one more time,” Avery Lawrence said. “I tried to stay in the moment the best I could. I love this field. It doesn’t get better than this. I felt pretty good from the start. I was just trying to be as efficient as I could.”
“Avery’s had some great games this year and he did really well today,” Lauture said.
“Avery has been on his last few starts,” added Casey Lawrence. “Last game against South Portland, he was (sick) before the game, but it didn’t affect him. Today, he came out feeling great and was able to deal from the start. He kept his pitch count low. He was very efficient, hitting his spots. He mixed it up the second and third time through the order. I was impressed with how he threw today.”
Offensively, Bechard, Groh and Lauture scored the runs and Lauture and Miles Lawrence had RBI.
Deering stranded seven baserunners.
Westbrook, which ends up 1-15 and 17th in Class A South, left seven runners on as well.
Jalbert took the loss, surrendering two earned runs on six hits in five innings. He walked one, hit one and struck out six.
Boulette gave up an unearned run on one hit in an inning of relief. He walked one and fanned one.
Up next
The Rams project to be the No. 10 seed for the Class A South playoffs and will go to either Massabesic (9-7) or South Portland (10-6) for the preliminary round next Tuesday.
Deering lost, 10-2, at the Mustangs May 2, but has played much better since. The Rams took the Red Riots to the wire before falling, 3-2, this past Saturday at Hadlock Field.
Regardless of who or where it plays, Deering will treat next week’s game as a bonus and will go in confident, hoping one more memorable chapter is in store.
“We have to come ready to play against whoever,” Avery Lawrence said. “I’m ready to get the ball. Hopefully we’ll surprise some people.”
“We’re not done,” said Lauture. “It means a lot to make the playoffs. We’ve been through a lot. We have a lot of confidence going into playoffs and we think we can win. I think teams are looking at us more now that we’re winning games. We just have to play good defense. It’s been better lately. The two errors we had today were miscommunication, but we fought through it.”
“Making the playoffs is great,” Casey Lawrence added. “We just have to play solid defense and get some good pitching and put the ball in play. This was a great way to end the season, but it’s not the end of our season. We’re going to keep going and play a little more baseball.”
