GNCBL: Patriots roll past Mavericks, 8-1

OLD ORCHARD BEACH—Patriots Chris Romano (Yarmouth/Colby), Justin Coppeta (Westbrook/Assumption) and Jack Lynch (Portland/Merrimack) all scored in the top of the third on Sunday afternoon, July 14, collectively pushing their boys up 4-0 on the Mavericks.

Come the bottom of the seventh, Romano also turned in a great diving play at shortstop to end the outing at 8-1 and secure an 11-4 Pats record on the summer so far.

Tanner Bernier pitches for the Patriots. Adam Birt / Lakes Region Weekly

“The Mavericks are a little on the younger side,” Patriots head coach Greg Coppeta said. “But fundamentally, they play. If you put your head down, it’s a team that really wants to play, you get beat. We didn’t want to do that.”

So Romano had a good day – and he wasn’t the only one. Fellow Patriot TJ Carney-DeBord (Granville, Ohio/DePauw) recorded three hits on the day, and Coppeta, Lynch and Jake Plikus (Oakdale, Connecticut/Nichols) record two apiece. DeBord and Plikus hashed two RBIs each.

The Pats picked up one run early, then began to pull away in the third. Romano grounded into right to reach base, then moved to second when Coppeta lined into left. A wild pitch during Lynch’s at-bat gave both Romano and Coppeta 90 more feet; the former scored on Lynch contact into shallow left and the latter on DeBord contact into deep right.

DeBord’s shot also ushered Lynch across the plate: 4-0.

The Mavericks picked up their lone run in the bottom of the third, but the Pats were well on their way to claiming the W by that time. The team added another run in the top of the sixth, then three more in the top of the seventh for the 8-1 final.

As for the rest of the Pats’ lineup: Cam King (Portland/USM) finished with one hit on the day, and one RBI; Romano logged one and one as well. Arlo Pike (Buxton/USM), Brayden White (Greencastle, Indiana/DePauw) and Blane Cook (Fort Wayne, Indiana/DePauw) each had a hit. King crossed the plate once, as did Plikus, Carney-DeBord, Pike, White and Cook.

Tanner Bernier (Windham/USM) started on the mound for the Pats; Bernier threw five innings for the win, giving up four hits and three walks, and notching three shutouts. Jack Bean (Standish/USM) closed the contest out, adding a single K in his two innings hurling.

Patriots second baseman Justin Coppeta watches the action at home. Adam Birt / Lakes Region Weekly

“We played well today,” Coach Coppeta said. “Tanner and Jackson both threw strikes, defense made some real nice plays – especially Chris, up the middle. And we swung the bat, had some timely hits: Justin had two, TJ had three that were key in breaking the game open.”

The Pats currently sit in second in the GNCBL standings, a half-game back from the No. 1 Nor’easters.