JAY – Nick Bourassa’s hunch in the bottom of the seventh inning paid off for Jay.

Bourassa went with the pitch and smashed a bases-clearing triple to give the Tigers a dramatic 3-2 victory over Mt. Abram on Monday.

Jay (7-5) was in a 2-0 hole entering the final inning, but the momentum shifted quickly. Mt. Abram pitcher Ben Ladd had scattered five hits over six innings and had several Tiger batters swinging in the wind.

“Nothing like waiting for the last moment,” Jay coach Chris Bessey said. “We haven’t been hitting the baseball well, and when we did make good contact, the balls simply were not falling in for us. It sure was nice seeing a couple drop in.”

Rocky DeSanctis led the inning with a bloop single, and Matt Schmidt reached on an infield error. After a brief conversation, the Roadrunners decided to pitch to Zane Armandi, but the slugger walked to load the bases with no outs.

The drama ended soon when Bourassa smashed a gapper that rolled to the chain-link fence.

“I just wanted to hit the ball in the gap,” Bourassa said. “When the count went to 2-0, I was thinking fast ball because Zane had walked before me. I had been struggling at the plate the last three games. Hopefully, this was a good way to come out of it.”

By the time Roadrunners center fielder Dave Fullerton retrieved the ball, Schmidt was rounding third base and Armandi was nipping at his heels. Both Tigers scored standing up. Jamerson Turner of Jay was the lone repeat hitter.

Mt. Abram (2-9) had taken a 2-0 lead on Jay pitcher Shane LaFevre, who threw a three hitter. The right hander was deliberate and had eight strikeouts.

“Shane has done a good job for us,” Bessey said. “That’s good for someone who we hadn’t planned on using. His record is 2-3, but every loss was by one run.”

Mt. Abram scored single runs in the fourth and sixth. Nate Smith singled in the fourth and pinch runner Ronnie Cobb scored on a delayed double steal. Hank Poulin added an RBI single.

The Roadrunners have been hurt by mistakes that lead to big innings. It resurfaced, again, Monday.

“That’s been the story of our season,” Mt. Abram coach Ryan Palmer said. “That’s the best I’ve seen Ben Ladd throw this season. The seventh inning started harmlessly but the error and walk hurt us. If anyone but Armandi had been on first, I think we could have thrown them out. We’ve been a very competitive team in spite of our record.”


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