READFIELD — Maranacook took full advantage of having the final at-bat for the first time this season. 

Having played their first five games on the road, the Black Bears found themselves trailing by a run entering the bottom of the seventh. Three batters later, they were mobbing Logan McLaughlin at first base. 

McLaughlin drove in the game-winning run with a sharp grounder to third, scoring Connor Ireland in Maranacook’s 6-5 victory over Leavitt on Monday to snap a two-game losing streak. The Black Bears didn’t waver despite forking over a three-run lead in the sixth. 

“I told them that they still have to get six outs against us,” Maranacook coach Eric Brown said. “This is our first home game. We finally have that chance to have that last at-bat. We’re a tough-hitting team and that’s a big task at this point. We came threw and we showed it.” 

Cam Brochu led off the final frame with a liner down the left field line on the first pitch he saw from Leavitt reliever Eli Calder. Ireland drove one through the left side of the infield on a hit-and-run three pitches later and Brochu scored on a throwing error at third base. The ball went out of play, plating Brochu and putting Ireland — the winning run — at third with no outs. 

“We just wanted to get up there and get a base hit and hopefully drive some more runs in,” McLaughlin said. 

McLaughlin played the hero, connecting on a 1-2 offering from Calder.

“I was shocked,” McLaughlin said. “I was really shocked it went by (the third baseman). I wasn’t expecting that at all.” 

Maranacook’s seventh-inning rally undid a furious rally by the Hornets (2-4) an inning earlier that saw the visiting team plate four runs and grab a 5-4 lead. With Maranacook starting pitcher Dan Garand relieved after five innings of work, Leavitt found success off Jason Brooks. 

The Hornets loaded the bases in the sixth with one out and Julian Kirouac drew a walk to score Calder, who led off the inning with a single to left field. Some confusion during Ian Godfrey’s final at-bat led to the Hornets shrinking the Black Bears’ lead to 4-3. With the bases still loaded, Godrey grounded to Garand right at third base. Garand threw home to get the force, but the umpires ruled he stepped on third before throwing to the plate, meaning catcher Mark Buzzell had to tag out Lucas Perry, which he didn’t. 

As a result, Leavitt had runners at first and second with two outs. The Black Bears (3-3) opted to intentionally walk Mitchel Davis to load the bases, bringing up Kevin Knight, who had struck out with the bases loaded in the previous inning. He didn’t strike out a second time, blooping a two-run single to shallow center in between second baseman Matt Gyorgy and center fielder Kent Mohlar to give the Hornets their first lead of the contest. 

“I think we just settled in a little bit,” Leavitt coach Chris Cifelli said. “I thought the fifth inning we had a pretty successful quick fifth inning, so we got a little bit excited and we were running out of outs. We had some very patient at-bats and that got us rolling a little bit more.” 

It was a pitcher’s duel early as Davis and Garand kept their respective opposing team off the scoreboard through the first two innings without allowing a hit. Garand didn’t allow a Hornet to reach third base through the first four innings before Leavitt would tack on a run in the fifth on a bases-loaded walk to Davis. 

“Danny did great, his pitch limit just got too high,” Brown said. “He was at 90 pitches after five and he’s a freshman, young kid. We didn’t want to push him any more. He threw over 100 pitches last week.” 

Garand tossed five innings of four-hit ball, striking out six and walking four. 

Davis threw 37 pitches in 2 1/3 innings before Calder pitched the remaining 3 2/3. Davis struck out three and walked one without allowing a hit. 

“I was impressed with both of them,” Cifelli said. “They gave us a shot to win. You see the scores Maranacook has and they were in double digits in a lot of games, so to keep a good offense down to six and, for most of the game, three it gave us a shot and we needed it too because the Maranacook pitchers were doing the same. It was a very well-played game.” 

The Black Bears scored three in the third after Calder entered the game. Brooks scored on a throwing error and Garand lifted a 2-2 pitch into left field to plate Brochu and Ireland. 

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