Colton Carson, top center, huddles with his Bessey Motors teammates after pitching four perfect innings against Rumford Post 24 in Rumford on Tuesday. Carson struck out nine batters in four innings.
RUMFORD — Colton Carson didn’t get to pitch on his normal day last Saturday because of a postponement, so the Bessey Motors ace made up for the missed start in Tuesday’s South division American Legion baseball game against the Rumford Post 24 Falcons.
Carson pitched four perfect innings and struck out nine batters before he hit his coach-imposed pitch limit to preserve him for a doubleheader Saturday against Loring Post. The Bessey Motors offense also got going early, getting the bulk of its runs while Carson was still dealing, on its way to a 14-2 win.
“Pretty much everything (was feeling good),” Carson said. “I just felt like I had good command, and my arm felt good today so velocity felt pretty well, and I just wanted to attack.”
That’s just what Carson did, striking out the side in each of the first two innings.
“I mean, as a hitter you got to accept that challenge and know that you have to be at the top of your game to be able to hit that guy,” Rumford coach Steve LaPointe said.
Carson even backed himself up defensively in the third, calmly fielding Anthony Mazza’s jammed grounder for the first out, then, after picking up a seventh strikeout, he leaped and knocked down Isaac Gordon’s bouncer before recovering and firing to first for another out.
He struck out two more to start the fourth before second baseman Rod Bean fielded a pop-up for Carson’s final retired batter. Carson needed only 46 pitches to get through four innings.
“There was a planned thing,” Bessey Motors coach Shane Slicer said. “Unfortunately for him, he was dealing pretty well. So he knew going in that we were going to limit it to 50 pitches. That’s what we felt he needed to bounce back on three days rest (for Saturday).”
Cam Slicer of Bessey Motors scrambles home to score a run during Tuesday’s game against Rumford Post 24 in Rumford. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
The Bessey Motors bats plated eight runs during those first four innings.
Janek Luksza hit an RBI triple in the first and then scored on a sacrifice fly. Two errors and a walk brought home two more runs in the second.
After a scoreless third, Bessey plated four more runs in the fourth. Will Dieterich led off with a triple and scored. Luksza singled home a run, another came in on a wild pitch, and an error allowed an eighth run to score.
“It’s always nice to play with a lead, especially when Colton’s on the mound,” Slicer said.
“It’s a very good team. Good hitting team. Hit the ball where it’s pitched,” LaPointe said. “They’re disciplined at the plate, too. Incredibly disciplined. They don’t swing at bad pitches.”
Carson admitted to being a little bummed about coming out with a perfect game going, but he also said he didn’t think about it too much. The Rumford hitters were certainly happy to see him go, however.
Rumford Post 24 third baseman Cody Hemingway makes a long throw from behind third base during Tuesday’s game against Bessey Motors in Rumford. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
Wyatt Williamson took over for Carson at the start of the bottom of the fifth and he was greeted by three straight grounders.
The first was a tough hop for Bean, and Cam Godbois reached on an infield single. An error on a fielder’s choice put two on with nobody out, and Hunter Ames singled in a run. Cody Hemingway later sacrificed in a second run.
“That was pretty cool,” LaPointe said. “We get a couple of hits and get a couple of runs there, and we get a little momentum going.”
“I though Wyatt had some tough luck there,” Slicer said. “We made a couple errors and then they capitalized on it.”
Bessey Motors scored single runs in both the fifth and sixth without needing a hit. Then came a four-run seventh, with a walk and two errors accounting for the quartet of scorers.
“You just can’t relax. You can’t relax against them,” said LaPointe, who was happy to go seven innings against undefeated Bessey Motors (6-0), which beat his new Rumford (2-5) team in five innings earlier in the season.
Jonny Pruett of Bessey Motors is tagged out at home plate during Tuesday’s game against Rumford Post 24 in Rumford on Tuesday. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
Cam Slicer finished the game on the mound for Bessey Motors, tossing two scoreless innings allowing only two hits.
After Cole Brown pitched the first three innings for Rumford, Mazza, Godbois and Gordon all came on in relief. They limited Bessey Motors to six hits, but combined for 11 walks.
Ashton Kennison of Bessey Motors lets a pitch go by during Tuesday’s game against Rumford Post 24 in Rumford.
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