LIVERMORE FALLS – The Mt. Abram baseball team capitalized on early miscues and backed its offense by hitting the ball with authority in a Mountain Valley Conference game on Friday.
The Roadrunners sent 12 batters to the plate in a six-run, fourth inning and never looked back in an impressive 15-4 win over Jay. Mt. Abram banged out 12 hits, and six starters scored two or more runs. Members of the Roadrunners’ hit paraded included Ritter Bopp (3-for-4, three runs scored, three RBIs) and Aaron Adams (two singles, three walks, three runs scored).
The 2-hour marathon game was played at Livermore Falls because Ouellette Field was too wet.
Mt. Abram (8-5) earned some valuable heal points and unofficially replaced JAY 7-7 as the fourth-ranked team in Western Class C.
“We needed this game,” Mt. Abram coach Mark Keller said. “It was our last chance at moving up in the standings because we have Carrabec and Boothbay (combined three wins) left to play. The MVC has (Monmouth and Mountain Valley) with a couple losses, but there’s a lot of parity because three or four teams are fairly even.”
Jay had tied it 2-2 on a solo home run by Jake Farrington in the bottom of the third. The Tigers’ momentum was short-lived as the Runners went wild on Jay starter Ryan DiPompo (5-3).
Travis O’Neill singled home Bopp with two outs and the floodgates opened up wide. Davis scored from third when Jay first baseman Steve Nelson held the ball too long. Andy Sperry and Sam Dryer each plated runs. The key blow was Bopp’s two-RBI single.
“I was getting a good feel for the ball in the zone,” Bopp said. “The team was definitely focused on hitting today.”
Despite the deficit, Jay continued to run in an effort to climb back in the game. DiPompo (five steals) scored on Justin Wells’ RBI single. Nelson had an RBI sacrifice fly, but was robbed by Jordan Norton over the shoulder catch.
Winning pitcher Rob Thorndike scattered five hits through six innings and benefited from an inning-ending double play in the second and sixth. Norton caught the ball in right field, threw to O’Neil who relayed a strike to Sperry, who blocked Adam DeSantis from home plate.
“Mistakes (five errors) really cost us,” Jay coach Chris Bessey said. “The kids just were not in the game and we talked about it. But our season has gone that way.”
Brandon Wheeler and Sam Witherspoon each hit solo home runs. The Runners scored five runs in the seventh, led by O’Neill’s two-RBI single.
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