LEWISTON – Zack Timmermeyer had two swings from which to choose. Standing at the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning with the bases loaded and no outs, Timmermeyer erased the thought of a large, looping swing and instead opted for a quick, elbow-tucked-in hack.
It worked to perfection.
Timmermeyer’s swing produced a dribbler that took enough time getting to shortstop Kyle Keniston to allow Erik Waite to score from third, lifting Lewiston High School to a 3-2 win over Oxford Hills in a pivotal KVAC baseball game Wednesday.
“I knew I had been swinging kind of long lately,” said Timmermeyer. “Coach was telling me I needed to shorten it up. I knew with one ball on me, and the fact that (pitcher Corey Saunders) hadn’t thrown very many strikes, that I needed to see a good pitch to swing. It was a low fastball that I got to and I just put it in play.”
“We had to expect this type of game from them,” said Oxford Hills coach Shane Slicer. “They have everything to play for right now, and when it went extra innings and here we are on the road, those are tough games to win.”
Timmermeyer also got credit for the win after relieving starter Nick Langlais in the sixth inning. The two Lewiston pitcher combined to allow the Vikings (10-2) just six hits, while fanning six and allowing no walks.
“I always try to keep them on their front foot,” said Langlais, whose lack of speed was overshadowed by a striking command of a looping curve and a knuckle ball. “I just try to mix it up with the fastball, the curve and the knuckler.”
“That was kind of the game plan with the pitching,” said Lewiston coach Don King. “Once they started to see Nick better, once they started to hit him hard and get a read on his stuff, we were ready to bring Timmermeyer in. He was ready from the second inning on.”
Lewiston took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, executing small-ball tactics to perfection. Chad Guimond singled to open the inning, stole second and advanced to third on a weak grounder to the right side. Chad Kordalski, hitting eighth in the order, singled Guimond home for the 1-0 edge.
“I had been batting leadoff, but I wasn’t doing so well,” said Guimond. “Coach dropped me back to sixth, and I am more comfortable here.”
The 6-9 hitters in the Lewiston lineup went 8-for-15 with two walks, three RBI and a stolen base, while hitters in positions 1-5 were 0-for-18 with two walks.
“Shows how much I know, apparently,” deadpanned King after the game.
In the top of the sixth, the lone significant error of the day on the Lewiston defense allowed Russell Estes to reach base. After Chris Jennings sacrificed Estes to second, Keniston lined a double to right field to plate Estes, and then came in on an ensuing triple by Kelvin DeCato. That was the last batter of the game for Langlais.
Freshman John Paradis, hitting ninth in just his fifth varsity game, knocked a long single down the left-field line in the bottom of the seventh to knot the score at two.
“Tonight he got his first two hits at the varsity level,” said King. “To have a freshman produce in that spot (there were also two outs) is just great for us.”
The win was the fifth in six games for Lewiston (6-6), which faces another tough test Friday against Mt. Blue. Oxford Hills returns home Friday to face Waterville.
Comments are no longer available on this story