Twice Tuesday afternoon, Edward Little High School ace Cody Goddard rang up Brunswick leadoff hitter Matt Liscovitz, looking at a nasty pitch that nicked the corner.

Pick any other nine hurlers in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference, and there’s a good chance all of them would have cut their losses with a walk or left a two-strike offering in Liscovitz’s wheelhouse.

“That kid, who’s maybe one of the top five or six players in this league, Cody went after him,” said Edward Little coach Darren Hartley. “He handled him like a man.”

Hartley’s compliment makes sense when you consider the extreme highs and lows of Goddard’s senior year, steeped in conflicting emotions that adults twice his age aren’t fully equipped to handle.

Goddard was one of the top football players in the state last fall, quarterbacking EL to the Eastern Class A championship game.

Only two weeks before suiting up for the Red Eddies in their first Class A basketball championship game appearance in more than a half-century, Goddard’s young life was turned upside-down when his father and most ardent fan, Mike, died unexpectedly. The two had been on vacation in Florida at the time.

“We’ve had a couple situations where I’ve had to meet with his family and talk through some stuff,” Hartley said. “He’s got a lot on his plate. He’s got a lot of stuff going on.”

What has followed is a final baseball campaign that’s been as exceptional as it has therapeutic. The win over Brunswick pushed EL to 11-2, well within reach of a first-round tournament bye and a berth in the four-team KVAC championship round.

“I told him, ‘Maybe I don’t give you enough accolades,’ because I thought we got enough of that last fall, but he has five wins and one save for us. He’s batting over .500,” Hartley said. “He should be considered as one of the premier players if not the best player in our league right now.”

With three hits and three RBIs against Brunswick, Goddard backed up his own near-complete game on the mound.

He steered a shutout into the fourth inning and later retired eight consecutive Dragons before tiring in the seventh inning of an 8-5 victory.

Goddard will attend Husson University in Bangor, where he plans to play football for the Eagles.

Because it’s a Division III school, Husson likely would give the talented Goddard an opportunity to play his spring specialty, if he chooses.

“I’ll be very surprised if he doesn’t play both. Another couple of years with another 10 pounds of muscle, he’s going to be a 90 mph pitcher. He’s mid-80s right now,” Hartley said. “I can’t say enough about his effort, his maturity,” Hartley said. “If it’s a one-game playoff, he’s the guy that’s going to toe the rubber.”

Falcons ‘Heal’ up

With only one other Class B team dotting the schedule in the Mountain Valley Conference, Mountain Valley High School needs to be nearly perfect during the regular-season.

Running the table usually affords the Falcons enough Heal Points to snag at least a No. 2 or No. 3 seed, host a playoff game or two and secure the best possible match-up against the battle-tested Western Maine Conference field.

Dropping a game to next-door neighbor Dirigo on May 15 didn’t merely set back Mountain Valley’s quest for bragging rights. It threatened to banish the Falcons into a deep hole as they circled the wagons for another playoff run.

“We looked at the Heals,” said Mountain Valley coach Steve LaPointe, “and we needed some points.”

The schedule-maker gave the Falcons a chance to get back on track in a hurry. Mountain Valley took full advantage, holding off Winthrop, 7-6, and escaping Livermore Falls, 8-4.

Those wins vaulted Mountain Valley all the way to second in Western B, a scant margin behind Greely entering this rain-ravaged final stretch of the season.

Mountain Valley took advantage of a complete game from Matt Laubauskas to survive Winthrop, which rallied for six runs over the final two innings.

“Toward the end they were hitting him hard, but he’s a bulldog. He’s a tough, tough guy,” LaPointe said of Laubauskas. “It was this placid, laid-back game, 1-0, and then ‘boom,’ both sides. That’s the kind of win you just look at and it’s a lot of points and it really tests the heart of the kids. And the Winthrop kids are tough, too.”

Five errors by defending Western Class C champion Livermore Falls helped the Falcons in the second point-rich triumph.

Lakers, and lots of puddles

Not many baseball games were played Wednesday, Thursday or Friday thanks to the saturated field conditions, but one that snuck in between the showers should settle the top seed in Western Class D.

Despite being undefeated through nine games, Rangeley needed a home win Wednesday to vault over Richmond for the top spot in the Heal Point standings. But the Bobcats denied the Lakers, scoring four runs in the top of the seventh inning to sail off with a 6-1 victory.

Because the regional final is played on the neutral diamond at Saint Joseph’s College in Standish, there’s no overwhelming advantage to the No. 1 seed. The three teams in line for the third spot and a semifinal date with No. 2 – Greenville, Vinalhaven and Buckfield – all sport similar records.

Key games pushed back to Saturday or later due to rain include Brunswick at Lewiston, Edward Little at Oxford Hills, Oak Hill at Gardiner and Oxford Hills at Cony.