FARMINGTON — Colton Lawrence hit a high-bounding ball to the left side of the infield to score the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving Mt. Blue a stunning, 10-9 win over Oxford Hills in a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference baseball game at Hippach Field on Wednesday afternoon.
Oxford Hills (8-2) entered the game as the No. 1 ranked team in Eastern Maine Class A, while Mt. Blue (5-4) were riding a three-game losing streak.
Trailing 8-4 entering the bottom of the fifth, the Cougars rallied for five runs on three hits and three Viking errors to take a 9-8 lead. Ryan Pratt (four hits) and Ty Nichols ripped back-to-back doubles in the inning to power Mt. Blue’s comeback effort.
“We knew at any point we had the ability to comeback,” Mt. Blue coach Christian Boileau said. “We have been leaving a lot of runners on base, which has been a key component to our losses. That didn’t happened today.”
Oxford Hills appeared to be in control during the early stages of the game with pitcher Blake Slicer controlling the pace of the game. Jake Spinhirn drove the ball hard for base hits in the first and second innings as the Vikings took a 5-0 lead.
“I give Mt. Blue credit for keeping at it,” Oxford Hills coach Shane Slicer said. “We’ve been playing well through our seven-game winning streak. It’s just one of those things that happens in baseball.”
Following Mt. Blue’s big fifth inning, Oxford Hills immediately countered with a run in the sixth to knot the game 9-9. Blake Slicer opened the inning driving a double to deep center field. With one out, Aiden Heikkinen (four hits) drilled a line drive double into the gap in left center to plate Slicer with the tying run.
Mt. Blue reliever Evan Roberts shut down the Vikings in the seventh, registering a pair of strike outs.
With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Pratt grounded a base hit into the hole between first and second. Ethan Andrews reached on a infield base hit putting runners at the corners. Oxford Hills intentionally walked Amos Herrin to load the bases, setting the stage for Lawrence.
“I was trying to get it into the air,” Lawrence said. “Making contact was good enough and it gave us a huge win over the number one team.”
Lawrence finished the game with a pair of base hits and three RBI.
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