BANGOR – It’s usually not a good sign when you have to bring your infield in with the bases loaded and nobody out in a scoreless state championship game.
But for St. Dom’s, desperate times called for unusual measures. They also called for a gut check.
St. Dom’s won its first Class C state baseball championship by making some moves that went against the baseball handbook and, with pitcher Brady Blackman leading the way, by digging down deep to get out of two bases-loaded, no-out situations.
The first such pickle came in the first inning. Blake Wessel led off the bottom half of the frame with a walk. Phineas Peake then hit a tailor-made double play grounder to short, but shortstop Jake Albert’s throw to second went into right field, putting runners at first and third.
That would be the last time Blackman’s defense would let him down. The Saints decided to walk No. 3 hitter Collin Henry, an unorthodox move so early in the game. But St. Dom’s strategy was clear.
“We weren’t going to let him beat us,” said coach Bob Blackman.
Coaches Blackman and Allan Turgeon then called in their infield, another unusual bit of strategy at that point in the contest. Brady Blackman rendered the move moot for a moment by fanning freshman clean-up hitter Lucas Marks looking. Then Ross Gallagher played into the Saints’ hands by hitting a grounder to Albert, who threw home to force Wessel.
“I was going home with it all the way. We all were,” said Albert, who would later bunt in the winning run on a squeeze.
Third baseman Mike Griswold ended the threat by making a nice play on a slow roller his way.
“Getting out of the first one was key,” Brady Blackman said. “It they’d have gotten some runs on the board and set the tone, I think we would have been in trouble.”
“We could have gotten it started early,” said GSA coach Dan Kane. “You have to tip your hat to them. They made some defensive plays and their pitcher made the pitches when he needed to.”
Blackman got himself into trouble in the third. He walked Peake to lead off the inning. Curiously, Peake stole second with Henry at the plate and up 2-1 in the count. That gave Blackman the green light to walk the Eagles’ slugger.
After hitting Marks in the foot to load the bases, Gallagher lined a solid single up the middle to score Peake with what would turn out to be the Eagles’ only run. With the infield in again, Blackman got Gale to hit a shallow pop-up that second baseman Justin Fongemie made a nice play to go back on and snag in short right field. The Saints’ senior ace then fanned both Hilts and Daniel Larry swinging to prevent further damage.
“He just beared down and started throwing his off-speed stuff,” said junior catcher Mike Carpenter. “Everything was working well for him today.”
The off-speed stuff, a curve ball and a slider, was working so well that the Saints decided to feature it rather than Blackman’s mid-80s fastball the rest of the way.
“We just had to change our philosophy as the game went along,” Bob Blackman said. “We were trying to get ahead with the fastball and then we said to heck with it. They were really having a hard time putting the ball in play with his curve ball and slider. He threw two fastballs the whole seventh inning.”
“They’re a good fastball hitting team,” Brady Blackman said. “We just felt like if I mixed in some curves and some sliders, I could beat them.”
With a little assistance from his defense, of course. Actually, Blackman helped himself out by starting a 1-6-3 double play to get out of the fifth inning and by snagging a low line drive back to the box in the seventh. He also benefited from a great diving catch in left field by Andy Allen.
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