Brunswick baseball beats Brewer in extra innings

Brunswick first baseman Henry Blood, left, celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk-off single in the eighth inning to beat Brewer. Purchase this image

BRUNSWICK — It took eight innings for the Brunswick baseball team to produce any offense Wednesday, but a walk-off win over Brewer was worth the wait.

With no outs and the bases loaded, senior first baseman Henry Blood smacked a pitch deep into center field that scored senior catcher Jimmy Cook and gave Brunswick a 2-1 victory.

“I just knew I had to sit back, because I was struggling waiting on (previous pitches),” Blood said. “But I did that, so it was good.”

After Brewer took a 1-0 lead in the top of the eighth, the Dragons tied the game with three straight singles, then loaded the bases on an intentional walk of Liam Scholl, who tossed a 14-strikeout complete game and had Brunswick’s only hits before the eighth inning.

Blood’s hit was the first walk-off of his career.

“Henry is Henry,” Brunswick coach Matt Aceto said. “You never know what he’s going to do, but he always hits, you know. I couldn’t ask for anybody better in that situation.”

Both starters went the distance — Scholl threw 107 pitches for Brunswick (5-1), and Zachary Arnold threw 94 pitches for Brewer (3-3) — as the game remained scoreless heading into extra innings.

How it happened

• The two senior pitchers frustrated batters in different ways. Scholl relied on his speed, using his slider and fastball effectively before employing his changeup. He allowed just two hits and two walks. Arnold’s adept placement forced the Dragons into groundouts. He struck out four, walked three and gave up six hits.

“We cranked the machine up to like 90, 95 (miles per hour) last night, thinking we were going to see one of their faster pitchers, and (Arnold) was amazing,” Aceto said. “He can do a great changeup, good curveball, use his fastball, and that is a really good defensive team. So we put the ball in play, but they made every play.”

• The bases filled up quickly in the top of the eighth, as Brewer third baseman Dylan Nadeau hit a single and Scholl walked two batters. With two outs, center fielder Jake Perry hit a grounder past the third baseman for an error that brought in one run, but a strong throw from sophomore shortstop Wyatt Aceto to Cook at the plate prevented a second run from scoring.

“I was definitely feeling a little bit of pressure when those bases got loaded,” Scholl said. “But I took a step back, took a deep breath, and just did what I know how to do, and put some balls in the strike zone and got a (strikeout) and let my team do the rest.”

Statistical leaders

• Brunswick: Liam Scholl (8 IP, two hits, one unearned run, 14 strikeouts, two walks; 2 for 3, walk), Henry Blood (1 for 2, RBI, walk), Cam Beal (1 for 4, RBI), Jimmy Cook (1 for 4, run), Bo Marini (1 for 2, run).

• Brewer: Zachary Arnold (7 IP, six hits, two ER, four strikeouts, three walks; 0 for 2, walk), Dylan Nadeau (1 for 3, run), Blake Littlefield (1 for 3).

Notable quotes

• “These are the type of games, though, that are fun to watch. Not necessarily coach, but fun to watch, as far as it’s a close game, little things can happen and things change. Every single pitch, the situation changes. But I thought it was a well-played game. There weren’t many errors at all. Both pitchers were throwing strikes. Both of them stayed under the limit for eight innings, and that’s pretty good at the high school level.” — Brewer coach Dana Corey