Brody Walsh took the ball with one out and two on in the top of the 7th looking to keep the Skowhegan lead at 2-1. Walsh then surrendered four hits and threw a wild pitch that allowed the River Hawks to plate four runs for a comfortable cushion. Jackson Quinn preserved for the 6-1 win. Skowhegan has swept the season series with the Cougars.
Brayden Bellerose took the mound for the River Hawks in his first start of the season and limited the Cougar offense. Bellerose went five innings with two strikeouts, four walks, one hit batsmen, two hits, and one earned run coming from a sac fly after he handed the ball to Quinn in the win. It was Bellerose’s first earned run given up in the season now in 12 innings of work. The junior has 0.58 ERA on the season. He and Quinn combined to limit Mt. Blue to just two hits on the night.
Leso came into the matchup with a 2.33 ERA in 18 innings pitched for the Cougars. He pitched 6.1 innings with four strikeouts, two walks, three hit batsmen, five hits, and four earned runs in the loss. Two of the Skowhegan hits were triples. Hayden Dippner had one of the hits, stole two bases, and scored the run. He went 1-1 with a walk and was hit by a pitch.
For Skowhegan, Tyler Annis was 4-4 with a triple, two runs scored, and a stolen base. Brendan Dunlap finished 2-4 with a triple, strikeout, one run scored, and three RBI. Hunter McEwen was 1-2 with two walks and an RBI. The River Hawks’ dominating pitching continues after holding a team to one run or less for the eighth time in the season. In 77 innings, the pitching staff has an ERA of 0.64.
Skowhegan improves to 9-2 and hosts Messalonskee on Friday.
Mt. Blue falls to 6-5 and hosts Leavitt on Wednesday.
