AUBURN — Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the third at Auburn Suburban Field on Monday, Pastime Club’s Michael Wong stepped to the plate, looking to get something going against upstart Highland Green, the No. 7 seed in the American Legion Zone III playoffs that upset No. 2 Brunswick on Sunday.

Wong drove Mike Stewart’s second offering to the gap in right-center field for a leadoff double, and his teammates followed suit, pounding out eight hits in the frame and scoring eight times to take control en route to a 13-3 mercy rule win in seven innings.

The victory sends 15-5 Pastime Club, the No. 3 seed, to the Zone III championship game against No. 4 Tri-Town, which upset regular season champ Bessey Motors, 3-1 in the other semifinal on Monday. The winner of Tuesday’s title game at St. Joseph’s College in Standish claims the Zone’s top seed and an automatic berth to the state American Legion tournament.

The loser … heads home.

Bessey, by virtue of winning the regular season title, will face a play-in game on Saturday against the Zone IV runner-up.

Against Highland Green (7-13), Pastime Club pounded out 17 hits, including three each from Wong, Gage Cote and Ryan Riordan. Carter Abbott, Alex Small and Brady Cusson chipped in two hits apiece.

“I have no idea how many hits and walks that we had, but I do know we had some balls hit the gaps for a few extra base hits,” said Pastime Club coach Dave Jordan. “It was good to see us get into some baseballs. Playing back to back, we seem to be comfortable at the plate.”

On the mound, Ryan Riordan threw strikes. Highland Green was aggressive, putting several Riordan first pitches into play for routine ground outs. Cusson made several plays at second base, while Wong was stellar at shortstop, including robbing Highland Green’s Kevin Carter of a sure base hit.  

“They were swinging at strikes and hitting ground balls, and it helped me out a bit that they were aggressive,” said Riordan, who threw just 77 pitches and picked up three strikeouts in the seventh to escape a two-on, no-out jam. “I was only throwing my fastball until then, and I went to my off speed, and I was able to strike out the side.”

“Ryan didn’t have his best stuff today, but was hitting his spots with his fastball,” said Jordan. “They are a good hitting team, a much better team than their record will indicate, and Ryan did a nice job.”

Pastime Club gained a 1-0 lead in the first. Cote singled, stole second and scored on a single by Riordan.

But Highland Green kept it close and even gained a one-run lead in the third. Liam Brannigan reached on a bad-hop single, and Harper Moutal and Cam Cox were both hit by Riordan pitches to load the bases. Griffin Stockford followed with a ground ball up the middle. Cox was forced out at first, but an errant throw allowed Brannigan and Moutal to score to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.

After Wong slid into second with a double to open the home half of the third, Riordan quickly tied it against Highland Green starter Mike Stewart with an RBI single. Abbott launched a double to deep left field and Small plated Riordan with an RBI single.

Small made it a 4-2 game when he scored on a Stewart wild pitch, and Matt Keaney blooped a two-run single to left for two more runs. Cusson and Cote (two RBIs) followed with a single each to end Stewart’s outing, and Wong greeted reliever Reid Drouin with an RBI triple to give the hosts a 9-2 lead.

“We just needed to keep pounding, keep hitting, and we were real confident at the plate after a solid BP,” said Wong, who was 3-for-5 with a single, double and triple. “We let our bats do the work. We are a great hitting team. We are hitting the ball solid and it is coming together at the right time. No matter what, we have to go out there and play full force.”

“They earned every one of those runs, and my hats off to them,” said Highland Green coach Bob Neron. “If it would have been walks and errors, that would have been something else.”  

Small doubled and scored in the fourth, and Riordan picked up his third RBI hit in the seventh against Reilly Kons to plate Wong. Abbott singled in another run and pinch-hitter Kyle Ullrich ended it with a bases-loaded single.

Now, Pastime Club hopes to win the rubber match against Tri-Town on Tuesday.
“We saw them a couple weeks ago, and they are a good team,” said Jordan. “We split with Tri-Town, and I think Tuesday will be fun.”

Brannigan was the lone repeat hitter for Highland Green, going 2-for-3, while Sam Coombs picked up a single.

Riordan struck out six, walked two and permitted just three hits in going the distance.