LISBON — Lisbon High School senior hurler Kyle Bourget remembered the two starts he had against Wiscasset last season. Both were losses, and the Greyhounds found themselves on the outside looking in come Western Maine Class C postseason time.

Bourget didn’t allow history to repeat itself in his team’s Mountain Valley Conference season opener. The Greyhounds rolled to a 10-0 five-inning win on Friday against Wiscasset.

Bourget was in control from the start, allowing only a first-inning single to Daren Wood. He struck out six, didn’t walk a Wiscasset hitter and hit one Wolverine with a pitch.

“He had a great mindset today, and had the idea of ‘I am going to beat you,’ and his confidence level is up higher and he is a leader of this team,” said Lisbon coach Randy Ridley of Bourget. “Kids made great plays behind him, and Kyle was the first one to greet them when they came off the field, something a leader is supposed to do.”

“I was able to hit the corners and my spots, and got the breaking ball going late to keep them off-balance,” said Bourget. “It was a great effort by this team. When they put the ball in play, our young defense made the plays.”

First-year Wiscasset coach Mike Bowles kept things positive with his young team, reminding them that there are 15 games left in the regular season, including Monday’s home opener against Telstar.

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“We have a lot of young guys, a sophomore behind the plate, sophomore on the mound, with just two seniors in the whole lineup,” said Bowles. “We allowed seven unearned runs, and you can’t give a team that, but if you hang your head now, you are done for the rest of the season. We’ll go home and throw this one in the trash. When we play Lisbon at our place (May 12), we will be more seasoned and I believe it will be a different result.”

Freshman Ryley Austin kicked things off for Lisbon in the home half of the first inning with line-drive single. He moved to second on the first of eight Wiscasset errors and scored on a Bourget single to left field for a 1-0 Greyhounds lead.

A pair of miscues by the visitors in the second allowed Darren Ward, who had doubled with one out, to score the second Lisbon run.

Bourget had his fastball and curveball working. He struck out six of seven batters in one stretch, and watched Austin make two solid players at second base in the fourth to keep the Wolverines off the board.

On the other side, Wiscasset righty Tyler Bailey stranded five Lisbon runners on base in the first three innings, finishing with two strikeouts and seven hits allowed over four frames.

“Tyler had command of his pitches, and he allowed only an intentional walk in his first game,” said Bowles.

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Lisbon went ahead 3-0 in the fourth. Freshman Tyler Halls launched a double to right-center field and scored on a groundball by Austin.

“They are excellent players with a great baseball IQ,” said Ridley of Austin and Halls. “Ryley leading off as a freshman is hard, and he played very well at second base, and Tyler in center-field did a good job. There are two key positions up the middle filled by freshmen. We are confident that they will do the job.”

The Greyhounds broke it open later in the fourth. Bourget was intentionally walked and Tucker Brannon followed with an RBI single. An error kept the frame going, and Brett Gravel blooped a two-run single for a 7-0 Lisbon lead.

“Last year’s team, we don’t get those clutch hits,” said Ridley. “This team wants to win and has a great attitude. They made mistakes and we capitalized on those mistakes, something we should do.”

“The fourth was a great inning, allowing us to get a comfortable lead and go from there,” said Bourget, who was 2-for-2 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored.

Lisbon ended the game in the home half of the fifth. Halls (2-for-2, walk, two runs scored) singled and Troy Galarneau walked against McMahon. Austin singled to right field to load the bases, and a wild pitch allowed Halls to score. DJ Sargent followed with a slow roller to second base that was thrown away for an error, scoring Galarneau and Austin to bring about the 10-run Mercy Rule.

Ridley feels this opening win will give his team a boost.

“This win gives the younger kids and the older kids confidence, and these guys now know that we can win if we stick together,” said Ridley.

Austin was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while Brannon was 1-for-2, was hit by a pitch and stole a base. Galarneau scored a pair of runs.


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