LEWISTON — Zone 3 American Legion baseball might be deeper, one through ten, than we’ve seen in many summers. And perhaps the gap between top and bottom is slimmer, also.

What hasn’t changed is that taking your swings against the Pastime Club pitching staff is still mostly a losing proposition.

Brian Wigant limited Smith-Tobey Post 21 of Bath to three hits Thursday evening, striking out eight in Pastime’s 3-1 triumph at Franklin Pasture.

Wigant retired 12 in a row after surrendering back-to-back singles to Chris Paulus and Ethan Winglass and balking home Smith-Tobey’s lone run in the second inning.

His stab of a line drive started an inning-ending double play in the sixth, and he fanned pinch hitter Casey Watson to punctuate a 1-2-3 seventh.

“I had a lot better control of my fastball as opposed to the game I threw earlier this season,” Wigant said. “I was able to locate that and work the curve in.”

Work might be the operative word.

Wigant threw briefly in Pastime’s season-opening win over Highland Green of Topsham. He hadn’t gone beyond an inning or two against live bats since Memorial Day, when Lewiston faced Cony late in the KVAC regular season.

“We knew he was going to be effective,” Pastime manager Dave Jordan said. “We were hoping it was going to be an outing like this, because he’s very capable of it. With a doubleheader Saturday, we didn’t want to get in a situation of having to use three or four guys.”

The 85-pitch gem is probably bad news for the rest of the zone, which has watched Pastime reach the state final three straight years, winning it twice.

There isn’t necessarily a depth chart less than a week into the Legion schedule, but consider this: Pastime (3-0) has Lewiston High School’s one-two combination from 2012, Corbin Hyde and Luke Cote, its 1A and 1B of 2013, Wigant and Eddie Emerson, and Oak Hill ace Ryan Riordan all at its disposal.

“We’re looking good,” Wigant said. “We’ve got a couple of clutch returning guys and depth in the younger guys as well.”

Cote scored a run in the bottom of the first and drove in another an inning later to supply Wigant the lead.

He doubled to the wall in right center in the opening frame, moving to third when Emerson’s sacrifice bunt attempt died on the chalk about six feet from the plate for a single.

Smith-Tobey southpaw Aaron Barrett’s tricky pickoff move caught Emerson leaning, but Emerson kept the rundown alive until Cote broke for home. The secondary throw was late, both runners were safe, and Pastime had the 1-0 lead.

Wigant rallied from his rocky start in the second by striking out Andrew LaCavera and Wade Hunt and getting a fly out from Keegan McDonough to keep it tied.

David Cusson and Brandon Hovey drew walks to ignite the Pastime second ahead of Cote’s RBI single to left.

“A tough lefty can be difficult to score runs on, especially a guy with a good pickoff move,” Jordan said. “I knew he had to try to manufacture a few runs early. Fortunately we did, because we didn’t get a lot of clutch hits with guys in scoring position until late.”

Barrett struck out 11 and walked four for Smith-Tobey (1-2).

After Wigant’s two-out double in the the third, Pastime didn’t have another hit until two in the sixth plated an insurance run.

Wigant beat out an infield single, went to second on a wild pitch, advanced again on Cusson’s sacrifice and scored on a Mike Wong knock to right.

Wong, who just completed his sophomore season, was a late-inning replacement.

“There’s a lot of depth on this team,” Jordan said. “There are a lot of guys that can be mixed or matched in.”

Dakota Jacobs singled to lead off the Smith-Tobey sixth. He was erased on a fielder’s choice before Wigant gloved Zack Holbrook’s shot up the middle.

Pastime plays two at rival William J. Rogers Post of New Auburn on Saturday.

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