MONMOUTH – At Livermore Falls High School, the local color on the baseball diamond is the short porch in left field. At Monmouth Academy’s Chick Field, that real estate is occupied by a spacious backyard.
When the ball is hit over any outfielder’s head, it might roll until the cows come home. On one hand, many home runs die in that pasture. If your team has speed to burn and a propensity for the big inning, however, it’s a coach’s best friend.
After falling on its own sword through two-and-a-half innings of Thursday’s Western Class C quarterfinal game and stumbling to an eight-run deficit, No. 2 Monmouth hammered out six runs in the third inning and six more in the sixth to shoo away No. 7 Livermore Falls, 16-10.
Monmouth (13-3-1) welcomes Telstar or Old Orchard Beach to its free range for a Saturday semifinal.
“Now you see why I don’t want the fences up,” said Monmouth coach Eric Palleschi. “Why put horses in a cage?”
Swinging liberally at first pitches, Livermore Falls (10-8) made the ponies fetch for a while, swatting the ball over heads and into gaps on its way to a 9-1 lead. The Andies batted around in the second inning, scoring six runs on the strength of two-run singles by Tyler Cote and Brad Bryant and run-producing knocks by Jacob and Josh Marceau.
But what the greenery gave, the greenery took away. The first of two Sean Holbrook triples on the muggy afternoon put the Mustangs in business, and RBI singles by Andy Bellmore, Scott Ogden, Cameron Saucier and Josh Parsons pulled Monmouth (13-3-1) within two at 9-7.
Kyle Pelletier’s triple set the table in the fifth. Pelletier later snuck home on a delayed steal with Bellmore. After Ogden’s single and steal, Bellmore and Ogden trotted home with the tying and go-ahead runs on a throwing error.
“They battled back hard,” said Livermore Falls coach Brian Dube. “They crushed the ball. I used every pitcher I had.”
Kevin Gats crossed the plate for the Andies to make it 10-10 in the fifth, but it came at the price of a rally-killing double play.
Ogden, Monmouth’s third pitcher of the afternoon, limited Livermore Falls to one hit thereafter, and the Andies’ bullpen surrendered triples to Holbrook and Ogden and doubles to Ron Hobson and Devin Robbins in the decisive sixth.
“They beat us on a walk-off home run at their place,” Holbrook said of the teams’ regular-season clash. “We felt good being here. We knew we could come back, and we hit the ball wonderfully.”
Holbrook and Ogden each scored three runs for Monmouth, which collected 14 hits off Dane Hanson, Jacob Marceau and Bryant.
Jacob Marceau and Bryant ripped three hits apiece to lead the Andies, who lashed out 10 of their 16 hits in the first two frames.
“I give my pitchers credit,” Palleschi said of Ogden, Bellmore and starter Ben Seefeldt. “That’s a great hitting team, and they kept us in it. I’m not even sure now who’s eligible to pitch on Saturday.”
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