RUMFORD – The Mountain Valley High School baseball team continued its flare for the dramatic at overcast Hosmer Field Tuesday afternoon.

Craig Milledge singled home Mike Gionet with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning for the winning run as the Falcons relied on strong pitching and a near-flawless defense in a 3-2 come-from-behind, MVC win against Winthrop.

It was only the second home game for Class B Mountain Valley (4-2) and Milledge has been in the right spot both times to drive home the wining run. Nearly two weeks ago, the senior center fielder roped a safety to beat Livermore Falls 8-7.

The Falcons took advantage of an excellent bunt by Korey Stairs and some alert base running by Gionet to get the job done. Starting pitcher Rich Ross struggled early on, but threw seven-plus innings. Ross was lifted in the eighth for freshman Marcus Palmer who held the Ramblers in check to improve to 2-0.

“This was quite a come back,” Mountain Valley coach Steve LaPointe said. “It was a total team effort and a real key was that sacrifice bunt that Korey Stairs laid down. He’s a clean-up hitter, but some times you have to be willing to do the little things to help the team.”

Winthrop pitcher Dustin Harrington held the Falcons in check throughout the game, but the situation turned south quickly. Gionet led off the eighth with a solid single to centerfield and Stairs followed with a bunt that Harrington had to field and throw to first baseman Joey Burnham for the out. Gionet kept running on the play and slid in safely on the outfield side of third base to avoid the attempted tag by Chip Burnham.

“That was another big play for us,” LaPointe said, referring to Gionet’ s aggressiveness. “Fortunately, we had gone over going from first to third on a bunt in practice (Monday). It sure was nice to see it executed successfully in this game.”

Milledge quickly ended the game by hitting Harrington’s first pitch over Ian McCarthy’s head.

Class C Winthrop (3-4) took the lead on a two-run RBI double by Joel Weisberger in the third inning. Ian McCarthy and Harrington each singled before Weisberger (3-for-4, two doubles) hit a high pitch in to the right-center field gap.

“This was a tough one to lose,” Winthrop coach Marc Fortin said. “Especially after that call at third base. I felt that (Gionet) was out. Dustin Harrington threw well for us again. He had lost a game in the 13th inning to Lisbon the other day. We made contact with the ball and (Mountain Valley) made the plays.”

Ross, who threw 60 pitches through three innings, eventually found a groove and retired 10 batters in a row. The righty allowed four hits, struck out six and issued three bases on balls.

Mountain Valley tied the game in the fifth on some clutch hitting by the lower third of the batting order. Ian Venskus led off with a single and then scored when Palmer’s single rolled underneath the left fielder’s glove. Palmer was sacrificed to third by Dickie Cote and scored on a single by Jason McPherson (three hits). Ben Madigan also had two hits.

“Jason McPherson never ceases to amaze me,” LaPointe said. “He was out of baseball for two years. Harrington really threw well, but I felt Rich Ross got stronger. Now we are busy with four games in four days.”