Faulkingham shuts out Windjammers Belfast pitcher gets tough once he gets used to Camden Hills’ lower mound

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ROCKPORT – As far as Belfast pitcher Nick Faulkingham was concerned, the turning point of Friday afternoon’s game against regional rival Camden Hills was the third inning.

That’s when the Lions’ junior righthander finally got used to the much lower pitchers’ mound at Camden’s home park.

Faulkingham handcuffed a talented Windjammers’ lineup and tossed a four-hit shutout to lead the Lions to a key 5-0 baseball victory.

“I was just trying to throw the ball hard. This is a pretty low mound I’m not used to, so it took me a couple innings to get my curveball working,” Faulkingham said. “Right after I found it, I had that and my fastball and that’s all I needed. That’s when everything started working good.”

Not that he was doing too poorly before then. Faulkingham (3-1) retired the side in order in the first en route to an outing in which he threw 67 of 104 pitches for strikes, struck out 10, and walked two.

“He has great control and that – in this game at this level – is invaluable for pitchers,” said Camden assistant coach Jim Peck. “When he can force our guys to swing at pitches and put the ball in play without walks, that’s big. Plus their infield played as well as I’ve seen them play.”

Peck was subbing for head coach Scott Benzie, who was serving an automatic one-game suspension because he was ejected in Camden’s previous game.

The win avenges a home loss to 6-4 Camden for the Lions, who are excited to be 5-5 instead of 4-6.

“There really is a big difference. We were looking for a big win and this is a big one,” said Lions coach George Ross. “I think we’re a very good team, but we’ve been real inconsistent. This is our third win in a row on the road, so we’re hoping this is a turning point.”

The Lions scratched for a run in the fourth as Jesse Johnson hit a one-out double to the left field corner. Nick Arthers walked and Kevin Gray was hit by a pitch with two outs to load the bases. Faulkingham brought the winning run home with a walk on a 3-2 pitch.

Camden seemed poised to answer as Tom Dennen led off the bottom of the fourth with a double down the left field line. A passed ball put Dennen at third, but Faulkingham struck out the next hitter. Brady Butler then grounded back to the mound and the Lions caught Dennen trying to score on the out for a 1-3-2 double play.

“That seems to be the way with us. We got a leadoff double and then couldn’t bring him around,” said Peck. “Their pitcher was very good. When he needed to be tough, he was, and we just couldn’t put enough hits together at one time.”

Belfast all but iced it in the seventh as it scored four runs – two unearned – on three Camden errors plus RBI singles by Devin Potvin and Gray.

LIONS 5, WINDJAMMERS 0

Belfast (5-5) Camden Hills (6-4)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Welch, cf 3 1 0 0 Moro, cf 3 0 0

Cowan, 3b 3 0 0 0 Peck, 2b 3 0 0

Potvin, c 4 0 2 1 T.Dennen, c 3 0 0

a-Ratlin 0 1 0 0 W.Dennen, 1b 2 0 0

Johnson, lf 4 1 1 1 Butler, 3b-p 3 0 0

Arthers, ss 1 0 0 0 Massey, lf 3 0 0

b-Ellis 0 1 0 0 Peats, dh-3b 3 0 0

Olson, 1b 3 1 1 0 O’Brien, rf 0 0 0

Gray, 2b 3 0 2 1 Dupuie, p 1 0 0

Faulkingham, p 2 0 0 1 c-Cohn 1 0 0

d-Colby 1 0 0 0 Benzie, rf 0 0 0

Larson, rf 3 0 0 0 Doherty, ss 3 0 0

Totals 27 5 6 4 Totals 25 0 4 0

a-ran for Potvin in seventh, b-ran for Arthers in seventh, c-singled for Dupuie in fifth, d-struck out for Faulkingham in sixth

Belfast 000 100 4 ? 5

Camden Hills 000 000 0 ? 0

E?Cowan; Peck, T.Dennen, Doherty; LOB?Belfast 9, Camden Hills 6; 2B?Johnson; T.Dennen 2; DP?Faulkingham-Olson-Potvin; S?Cowan; SB?Gray, Olson

Belfast IP H R ER BB SO

Faulkingham (W, 3-1) 7 4 0 0 2 10

Camden Hills IP H R ER BB SO

Dupuie (L, 2-2) 6 4 2 2 5 6

Clark ? 1 1 1 0 0

Butler ? 1 2 0 0 0

HBP?Gray by Dupuie; WP?Butler; PB?Potvin; T?2:10; ATT?85