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TURNER — Whenever the Oxford Hills baseball team needs a jolt, they can count on Finley Cavers to make an adjustment at the plate and get on base.  

“You can get (Cavers) his first at-bat, but then he makes adjustments, and he always seems to find a hit when we need it,” said Oxford Hills coach Shane Slicer. “When guys (are) in scoring position, he gets a key hit, keeps himself up the middle pretty good.”

Cavers, a sophomore catcher, did just that in the Vikings’ 12-0 rout of Leavitt on Monday. 

After striking out in his first at-bat, Cavers hit a double in his second trip to the plate, then came around to score in what was a three-run fourth inning that opened things up for Oxford Hills’ (6-0). 

“Felt good after the first at-bat,” Cavers, who last year helped now-closed St. Dominic Academy win the Class D title, said. “Get my shoulder in and just keep swinging at good pitches, let the bad ones go by.”

How it happened

• Oxford Hills junior shortstop Gunner Truman singled and scored in the first inning, but it wasn’t until the fourth inning that the Vikings began to pull away. Sophomore designated hitter Niko Powers’ RBI single in the top of the fourth began what turned into a three-run inning, and from there, Oxford Hills was off to the races.

• In the bottom of the fourth, the previously unbeaten Hornets (4-1) had the bases loaded and were set to chip away at the four-run deficit, but a pop-up ended the threat. Oxford Hills, which is ranked fourth in the Varsity Maine baseball poll, went on to score eight runs across the final three innings, cementing their sixth victory on the young season.

Statistical leaders

• Oxford Hills: Finley Cavers (3 for 4, double, two runs, two RBI), Ryder Kennison (3 for 4, run, two RBI, Gunner Truman (2 for 4, walk, run, two RBI), Colton Jendrick (1 for 5, two RBI)

• Leavitt: Trenton Holst (2 for 3, walk), Randan Hutchinson (1 for 2, walk)

Heard it here first

• “We got Bangor on Friday and they’re always good, (we’ve) got to make a long trip. So we’ve got a lot of season left.” — Oxford Hills coach Shane Slicer.

• “Our pitching’s usually pretty good. The pitching numbers didn’t work today, so we had to go with bullpen stuff, guys that don’t generally pitch, but it is what it is. We hit the ball, we usually run the bases much better than we did today.” — Leavitt coach Roger Varney