SOUTH PARIS – With thunder rumbling from a distant storm, New Auburn Post 153 knew that its own bats needed to start rumbling if it wanted to beat Bessey Motors and stay atop the Zone III American Legion standings.
After managing one unearned run against Bessey starter Joe Baker in four innings, the middle of New Auburn’s batting order came alive with two outs in the fifth.
Justin Ciszewski walked, Kyle Giguere tripled home two runs, Brady Blackman doubled Giguere home and Matt Nadeau singled Blackman home, leading Post 153 to a 5-0, weather-shortened win over Bessey at Gouin Field on Tuesday.
“We didn’t play well at all last Saturday,” said New Auburn coach Jeff Benson. “After that, we had two goals today – play error-free baseball and get ahead. (Chris) Merrill started that last one early from the mound, and the defense played without an error. It’s no coincidence that we had a chance to win the game.”
Merrill scattered three hits over 5 2/3 innings before lightning and rain halted action in the sixth inning. Two of the three hits came on seeing-eye bloops into short left field.
“I was able to spot my fastball well tonight,” said Merrill. “I got ahead, and then I was able to throw the curve for strikes to keep their hitters off-balance.”
It wasn’t until the fifth inning, though, that Merrill started to feel comfortable.
“The runs always help,” said Merrill. “I knew at that point that if I gave up one run, it wouldn’t be such a big deal.”
In the fifth, it looked as though Zach Dumont would be stranded on third after a single, a sacrifice bunt and a groundout left New Auburn with two outs, but Baker started to tire.
“He started getting behind in the count a couple of innings before that,” said Bessey coach Shane Slicer. “I don’t know that he’s in seven-inning shape yet.”
After Ciszewski walked, Giguere ran the count to 2-1 before belting a triple to the right-centerfield gap, all the way to the fence, plating both baserunners.
“He was throwing a bunch of balls to (Ciszewski),” said Giguere. “He gave me two balls, too, so I knew a strike had to be coming, and I just sat on it.”
Blackman followed with a double after recognizing a pitch pattern.
“The last time up, he had me at 2-0 and threw me a curve ball,” said Blackman. “The third time, he did it again, so on 3-1 I sat on the curve and got it.”
Blackman’s double to left-center followed by Nadeau’s single was all New Auburn would need.
This is the second official win for Post 153 over Bessey Motors, although the last time the two played, Bessey was forced to forfeit the game due to the use of an ineligible player. The two rivals, which in part faced each other for the Eastern Class A baseball crown in June, will meet once more in the regular season.
Comments are no longer available on this story