Buckfield commits 10 errors while dropping its season opener to St. Dom’s.

BUCKFIELD – A flash of lightning briefly held up Tuesday’s baseball game between St. Dom’s and Buckfield.

When play resumed after about a half-hour delay, St. Dom’s started to flash the leather while Buckfield’s defense suffered through a downpour of errors.

The Saints’ gloves abandoned them in the seventh, allowing the Bucks to make a late rally, but St. Dom’s was able to hold on for a 12-9 victory.

Ian Pullen (one run, four Ks, four walks) threw five innings of one-hit ball and Brady Blackman went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and also collected the save for the Saints (2-0).

Buckfield, playing its first game of the season, made 10 errors, leading to eight unearned runs. The offense, led by Chris Savage (2-for-4, two runs) and Chris Russell (2-for-4, four RBIs) erupted for eight runs in the final two innings, but it wasn’t enough.

“I’m quite surprised because I think we should be a pretty decent defensive team,” said Buckfield coach Chuck Williams. “This being the first game and us maybe being a little nervous up against a good team, you make mistakes and they’re going to make you pay for it.”

St. Dom’s jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead when Ryan Turgeon crushed a 2-2 pitch from pitcher Scott Wetherell to center field for a two-run homer. The Bucks got one back in the second on an RBI double by Henderson. The Saints, led by Josh Dwinal (two hits), Turgeon (2-for-5, four RBIs) and Blackman, then seemed to pull away, scoring two runs each in the third, fourth and sixth innings to take a 9-1 lead.

Pullen, meanwhile, settled down after Henderson’s double to retire seven of the last eight men he faced. He also got some help from some nice fielding plays by shortstop Jack Lavoie and center fielder Jon Rutt and a rare double play from the catcher to first base to third on a dropped third strike.

“Guys were making plays. I was just throwing strikes and letting them hit it and the defense was taking care of it for me,” said Pullen.

“We have a lot of guys that can play in a lot of different places, which is a luxury for a coach,” said first-year St. Dom’s coach Mike Tyne. “You just figure out where you can put each guy, and wherever you put them, they do fine.”

Tyne pulled a tiring Pullen to start the sixth in favor of Rutt, who immediately experienced some control problems with a walk and a hit batter sandwiched around doubles by Savage and Russell. RBI ground outs by Henderson and Dodge pulled the Bucks within 9-6 heading into the last inning.

“The last few innings we started to find a few holes and get a few runs,” Williams said. “But they just played a lot better defense than we did.”

The Saints got all of the breathing room they would need when three more Buckfield errors and an RBI single by Blackman made it 12-6.

The Bucks continued to battle in the bottom of the inning. Two St. Dom’s errors and RBI singles by Wetherell and Russell cut the deficit in half. Blackman came on with the tying run on deck and got Henderson to pop out to first and struck out Dodge looking to end it.