RUMFORD – The beat goes on for the Oak Hill baseball team.
The Raiders extended their win steak to 10 games in a Class B semifinal game that provided a perfect setting.
Brian Bisson hit solo home run to lead off the sixth and earned the save in a thrilling 3-2 triumph over Mountain Valley at Hosmer Field on Monday.
Bisson, who rushed off to graduation, hit the eventual game-winning shot and then relieved inning pitcher Josh Jillson. The left-handed Jillson allowed six hits and lived with breaking balls on the outside corner.
The Falcons stranded several runners, including the sacks full in the third and fifth.
“I felt good,” said Jillson who is 7-0. “My breaking balls were working, and I knew that I needed to throw strikes. The team was behind me during the game.”
No. 7 Oak Hill (14-5) will play Greely-Falmouth in the regional final at Saint Joseph’s College Wednesday at 7 p.m.
“We didn’t have many chances,” Oak Hill coach Chad Drouin said. “But that’s the way our season has gone. We have made the most of our opportunities. Josh didn’t have his best stuff today, and the defense made mistakes, but it’s tough with men on base.”
Oak Hill had taken a 2-1 lead on a Devon Eaton two-run single in the fifth inning. Walter Rines walked and Brandon Plourde was hit by a pitch by losing pitcher Chris Cayer.
The right-hander scattered three hits and had seven strikeouts, in going the distance. Cayer retired the first 12 Raider batters.
“Chris Cayer pitched a good game,” Mountain Valley coach Steve LaPointe said. “Every time Jillson needed a strike, he got one. We could get a bead on him and didn’t hit that many hard balls off him.”
Mountain Valley drew first blood when Justin Stairs trotted home after Marcus Palmer was hit by a pitch, in the third. The Falcons concluded their season at 14-2 and scored a run in the bottom of the seventh. Palmer led off with a single and raced home on a Andy Shorey ground out.
“We have nothing to hang our heads about,” LaPointe said. “The kids battled till the final out. After losing six seniors, nobody thought we’d be in this position.”
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