Saint Dominic Academy sophomore pitchers Ashton Hammond, left, and Tim Ouellette, in the dugout at the Saints’ home field in Auburn. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
AUBURN — Bob Blackman has had his fair share of aces in his 18 years of coaching the Saint Dominic Academy baseball team.
What he hasn’t had is two aces on the same pitching staff, and that’s what he has this season with sophomores Ashton Hammond and Timothee Ouellette.
They have led the Saints (9-8) to Saturday’s Class D state championship game against North champion Machias (16-2) at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham at 1 p.m.
“We always had an ace and a good one, whether he’s left-handed or right-handed,” Blackman said. “One thing we always have been fortunate is we had a lefty with a great move to first base, and that’s a deadly asset to have. But, there’s always been a pretty good drop-off from number one to number two and you had to really manage it.”
The pair has come a long way in two seasons of pitching at the varsity level. Blackman said last year Hammond and Ouellette were both throwers, but they have turned into “pitchers” this season.
Hammond felt he and Ouellette took control of the pitching staff last season.
“I think it really started last year when we realized we had the talent if we put in the work,” Hammond said. “We had the basics; we just had to get there.”
Hammond is 3-1 on the mound for the Saints this season, with a 2.05 ERA. He also has 47 strikeouts, which leads the team. Ouellette also has a 3-1 record with a 2.89 ERA, and has struck out 37 batters.
Sophomore catcher Ridge Dionne said both pitchers make his job behind the plate easy by consistently throwing strikes.
“You know the difference between them,” Dionne said. “You know what they are consistent and what they are different at, but you get to know them pretty well (as pitchers).”
Hammond has been adding to his repertoire even during the season by adding a fourth pitch: a slider.
“It was definitely a learning curve, but it’s just another angle from the curveball,” Hammond said. “I had that; I just had to get used to holding it. It wasn’t too hard.”
Blackman only had one pitcher before Hammond work in a new pitch during the season — Will Emerson, who graduated in 2008.
“Will, mid-year of his senior year, he was messing with his curveball, and low and behold, we developed a slider and that became his deadly out pitch. It’s very unusual (for a pitcher to develop a pitch in-season), but when it happens, boy is it special.”
The slider has become Hammond’s number two pitch behind the fastball, and a curve and changeup round out his pitches.
Dionne said it took him a game to get adjusted to catching the slider, as he dropped it a few times in the first game Hammond used it.
The slider worked Tuesday for Hammond in a 1-0, complete-game, 93-pitch performance against top-seed Searsport in the Class D South regional final. He had eight strikeouts against five hits and the only walk he issued was intentional.
“That slider was thrown about 60 percent of the time; coach called that pitch a lot,” Dionne said of Hammond’s slider against Searsport. “Aston could spot it up pretty well and none of (Searsport) batters could touch it.”
Ouellette also has the same four pitches as Hammond after developing a slider last season. He knew early in his high school career how important it was to have more than two pitches.
“The hitters are much better than the baseball you played before (high school),” Ouellette said. “You need to have more than two pitches to throw for strikes. You can get by with two pitches, but developing a third pitch gets the hitters off-balance.”
Blackman has been able to go to either Hammond or Ouellette when needed this season. One example was in the Class D South regional semifinal last Saturday against Richmond. The second-seeded Bobcats started to time up starter Hammond in the fourth and fifth innings, and in the fifth inning, Blackman put in Ouellette to give Richmond another look, especially with the curveball.
Hammond’s curve moves late, with a tight break, while Ouellette’s is more of a 12-to-6 with two or three feet of movement.
Ouellette did his job, shutting out the Bobcats for 2 2/3 innings as the Saints came from behind to defeat Richmond 5-2.
“It’s nice to come out of the game and know that if Timothee goes (into the game), we will be fine,” Hammond said. “It’s not scary when Timothee goes (into the game), I have full trust in him. It’s definitely a good feeling.”
Ouellette said he prefers starting than coming into relief.
“When I am starting, I know my job,” Ouellette said. “I know right away, I know (I am facing) the whole (batting) order. When I come into relief, I don’t know if I am coming in with runners on third and second — maybe it’s the start of an inning. I just got to be ready as a reliever.”
Both pitchers will be available Saturday against Machias. Blackman hasn’t tipped his hand about who will take the bump in the biggest game of the season.
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