BANGOR-Josh Jillson didn’t allow many baserunners in Saturday’s Class B state championship baseball game.
The few that did reach, didn’t stick around very long.
Jillson fanned nine while tossing a three-hitter to help the Oak Hill Raiders capture the Class B crown with an 8-0 win over Bucksport at Mansfield Stadium.
Jillson dazzled the Golden Bucks (18-2) with his fastball and curve. The top five batters in the order combined for one hit and seven of the strikeouts.
“He was a little nervous in the first few innings,” said Oak Hill catcher Wally Rines. “After that, he was unhittable.”
“Last game I didn’t have my fastball,” said Jillson. “Over half my pitches were curves. It felt good to have both of them today.”
Of the eight Bucksport baserunners, only four were left stranded. The other four were cut down on the bases.
In the first, leadoff hitter Matt Jackson walked and promptly stole second and third. His steal of second came without Jillson making the pitch. Jackson caught the southpaw by surprise and outraced his throw to second. With one out and the Bucks’ No. 3 hitter at the plate, Jackson tried to catch Jillson napping again and made a break for the plate.
“That was strange,” said Jillson. “I saw him out of the corner of my eye, stepped off and threw the ball to home.”
With the Raiders (16-5) leading 4-0 in the fourth, the Bucks had runners at first and third with none out. At the plate was clean-up hitter Joe Robicheau. Chris Maguire attempted to steal second, but Rines’ throw was on the money. As Maguire put on the brakes about 10 feet before the bag, second baseman Ethan Guerette slapped the tag on him. Guerette then noticed Eddie Robbins was hung up between third and home. He sprinted toward the runner before firing the ball to third baseman Brian Bisson. Robbins was subsequently chased down and tagged out by Jillson to end the threat.
“That was a huge play for us,” said Rines. “Their crowd was getting loud. After that play, it was dead.”
“(Maguire) didn’t get a good jump,” said Bucksport coach Tiger Stewart. “He had the right idea by holding up. We were just trying to make plays.”
The Raiders left four runners on in the first two innings, but scored twice in the third.
After Devon Eaton walked to open the frame, Mike Eaton scored pinch-runner Ben Rines on a double down the right field line. Eaton came around on the first of two doubles to deep left by Bisson.
Bisson ignited another two-run inning in the fifth with his second two-bagger. After Wally Rines beat out an infield hit, Dustin Dubuc followed with a perfectly executed squeeze bunt that Robicheau threw wildly over the first baseman’s head. Dubuc eventually came around to score on Robicheau’s second error of the inning.
Robicheau (8-2) threw 132 pitches in the 85-degree heat and began to tire in the sixth, when the Raiders touched him up for three runs on four hits. Bisson, Wally Rines and Eric Daniels all delivered run-scoring singles off the right-hander. In the seventh, Guerette led off with a triple, and came home on Mike Eaton’s sacrifice fly to left.
Jillson didn’t need any of the insurance runs at that point. The way he was pitching, the game was over after the Bucks had the two runners cut down in the fourth.
“I didn’t think he had his best fastball today,” said Oak Hill coach Chad Drouin of Jillson’s pitching effort, “but that was him all season.”
The Raiders finished the year on a 12-game winning streak.
“The second half of the season, we received good pitching and timely hitting,” said Drouin. “That’s what makes championships.”
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