But the side from Lewiston, which also includes players from Lisbon and Monmouth, hadn’t faced Coffee News of Bangor — the two-time defending Legion state champion — in any of those 22 games.

Facing the champs for the first time, undefeated Pastime was humbled, losing 12-0 in eight innings on the second day of the Legion state tournament at Morton Field in Augusta.

The game was scoreless and without a hit after three innings, and Pastime escaped a pair of errors in the top of the third.

“Going through (three innings), it was going to be determined by who would get the first hit and the team that makes the least amount of mistakes,” Coffee News coach Dave Morris said.

A third Pastime miscue in the top of the fourth led to Coffee News getting the only run in that it really needed. Third baseman Lucas Francis made a diving stop on a two-out grounder, but a throw while still seated on the ground sailed high, allowing Andrew Hillier to score.

A play in the bottom half of the frame didn’t go Pastime’s way, either.

Gage Cote led off with a single — Pastime’s first hit and base runner of the game — and tried to get back to first after Hunter Landry’s line out to second with one out, but he was called out for an inning-ending double play.

Cote and the Pastime dugout were left frustrated by the close call — the second one at first base that included Cote, with both going against him.

The frustrations only continued for Pastime, which didn’t collect a hit the rest of the game.

“We didn’t really have it at the plate. I think we got frustrated at the plate, and I think it kind of carried over into our defense,” Pastime coach Jake Brown said. “I think it was uncharacteristic of us. You got to give credit to that pitcher — he pitched well.”

That pitcher was Coffee News starter Jesse Colford, who allowed just the single hit in six innings of work, which included 10 strikeouts. Two walks, a hit batter and an error made up the only other base runners Colford put on.

“(The game plan) was just to attack them,” Colford said. “Attack them until they proved that they can hit the ball. Just pound the zone and make them make contact.”

“He’s kind of deceiving because he’s a shorter guy, that some guys think that his fastball is not as hard,” Morris said of Colford. “But he throws pretty hard and he hits corners, and he gets ahead, and literally does a great job of just getting outs. He’s pitched that way all year long. We needed that kind of performance.”

Pastime’s pitchers had a harder time getting outs.

Mitch Davis gave up a leadoff walk to Ryan Brookings in the fifth, and that turned into another run two batters later on a Peter Kemble double. Kemble later came around to score on a wild pitch, putting Coffee News up 3-0.

Four more runs came across in the sixth, and Coffee News needed just one hit to get them.

Nick Cowperthwaite and Colford both walked to lead off, knocking Davis out of the game.

Gordon Beckwith walked Kyle Stevenson two batters later to load the bases, but Pastime was able to avoid initial damage when catcher Brock Belanger gobbled up a fair ball in front of the plate and stepped on home for the out. But a fielding error brought home two runs, then a double by Hillier drove in two more.

Brown said his team hasn’t faced adversity at any point this season like they did Thursday. They also hadn’t been silenced at the plate like they were by Colford.

“We definitely haven’t faced a game where our bats as a team weren’t there,” Brown said. “We’re used to scoring runs.”

Pastime came closest in the sixth, putting runners at the corners thanks to a walk and an error, but Colford struck out Austin Wing to end the threat — and his outing.

Coffee News put the game away in the eighth against Cote, who was the fourth Pastime pitcher of the day, following Landry in relief.

The inning started off well — with a leadoff strikeout — but then Kemble walked and Sam Huston hit a single that was misplayed in the outfield to bring Kemble all the way around to score. Two more walks were followed by three straight singles, and by the time Cote struck out Brookings looking, four more runs had come across and Coffee News was up 12-0.

Matt Smith closed out the game for Coffee News, throwing two hitless innings.

Hillier led the Coffee News offense with three hits, two runs and two RBIs. Fournier and Kemble both had two hits apiece as part of an 11-hit attack.

“We saw a lot of fastballs. I think we’re a fastball-hitting team,” Morris said. “It helped seeing those pitches.”

The drubbing of a defeat ended Pastime’s unbeaten start to the season, but Brown was looking for positives after the loss.

“I think good teams learn from their losses, so we got to rebound tomorrow morning, kind of flush it, and I like our chances tomorrow,” Brown said. “I think the fact that in 23 games in we’ve had one bad game at the plate, one bad game defensively, they know they can rebound and play well tomorrow.”

Pastime will face Skowhegan tomorrow at 10 a.m. in an elimination game.

wkramlich@sunjournal.com

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