Mount Ararat blanks Vikings to win Eastern A Rogers outduels Baker in gem

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BANGOR – Joe Baker knew he had little margin for error as he took the mound for Oxford Hills of South Paris in Wednesday’s Eastern Maine Class A baseball final against Mount Ararat of Topsham.

His opponent, Mark Rogers, had thrown a one-hitter in a regular-season win over the Vikings and is generally considered the best pitcher in the state.

But when Baker struck out four batters in the top of the first inning, it wasn’t good enough. One of the strikeout victims became a baserunner thanks to a wild pitch and scored the only run Rogers needed as Mount Ararat claimed its first regional title with a 2-0 victory at Mansfield Stadium.

The win advances No. 4 Mount Ararat (16-4) to Saturday’s 4 p.m. state final at Mansfield Stadium against Western Maine champion Deering of Portland. Oxford Hills, the third seed and 2002 EM champion, finishes 16-3.

“I just made a bad pitch, and they made me pay for it,” said Baker, who matched Rogers with a complete-game three-hitter. “The four strikeouts don’t matter; just the pitch that got away.”

Actually there were two pitches that got away in the first inning. The first was a third strike to Rogers that bounced behind the plate for a wild pitch that enabled him to reach first base with two outs. The next batter, Brandon Galarneau, ripped a 1-0 pitch to deep left field for an RBI double and a 1-0 lead.

When the Eagles added a run in the top of the third on two walks, a Rogers single and a wild pitch, Oxford Hills knew it was in a game of catch-up it likely wouldn’t win.

“When they get a lead with Mark on the mound, they play with a lot of confidence,” said Oxford Hills coach Shane Slicer.

And for good reason. Rogers is now 11-1 on the season and has allowed just two earned runs in 83 innings, an 0.17 earned run average.

Yet his 12th complete game of the spring was more of a grinder than most of its predecessors.

“Today I had to work a lot harder, and pitch instead of just throw the ball past people,” said the junior righthander, who struck out 11 and walked six in a 113-pitch effort. “I’ve pitched 22 innings in nine days, so I wasn’t able to reach back and have an overpowering fastball. I just tried to hit spots and mix it up with curveballs and changeups and keep the hitters off balance, and I put a lot of faith in my defense.”

While Rogers may not have had the 90 mph fastball that has drawn the attention of college coaches and pro scouts, he had the fortitude to escape a couple of jams of his own making.

He walked three batters in the second inning, but picked off a baserunner to help thwart that threat. In the fourth, Oxford Hills loaded the bases thanks to a Corey Tielinen single – the Vikings’ first hit of the game – a pair of walks and a strikeout-wild pitch, but one baserunner was thrown out trying to steal and Rogers spotted his fastball for an inning-ending strikeout of Matt Diffin.

“Diffin actually hit him solid one time the last time we played them, so it was a good opportunity for him but he just didn’t see the ball well today,” said Slicer. “Really I was just hoping for Mark to walk another guy; that was how we were going to score runs. We needed one key hit. If we could have got one key hit and got it at least even, maybe then they’d lose some of their confidence.”

It never happened. Rogers scattered two singles over the final three innings, and his teammates backed him with errorless defense for the second straight postseason game.

“I said at the start, this game’s going to come down to one or two mistakes,” said Mount Ararat coach Craig Rogers, father of the winning pitcher. “I just knew that with Mark on the mound, we were the team to beat.”

EAGLES 2, VIKINGS 0

Mount Ararat (16-4) Oxford Hills (16-3)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Cantrell, rf 4 0 0 0 Olson, ss 3 0 0

Doughty, 2b 2 1 0 0 Grenier, 3b 3 0 0

Rogers, p 2 1 1 0 Baker, p 3 0 0

Galarneau, 3b 3 0 1 1 Henderson, dh 1 0

Strong, 1b 3 0 0 0 Flanders, 2b 0 0 0

Doherty, lf 3 0 0 0 a-Bolduc 0 0 0

Williams, c 3 0 0 0 McDonnell, cf 2 0 0

Ogilby, ss 3 0 1 0 Tielinen, 1b 3 0 0

Ouellette, cf 3 0 0 0 Skalski, lf 0 0

b-Cote 0 0 0 0

Diffin, c 3 0 0 0

Saunders, rf 3 0 0 0

Totals 26 2 3 1 Totals 21 0 3 0

a-ran for Henderson in the 4th; ran for Skalski in the 7th

Mount Ararat 101 000 0 ? 2

Oxford Hills 000 000 0 ? 0

E?Diffin, Olson; LOB?Mount Ararat 8, Oxford Hills 6; 2B?Galarneau; DP?Ogilby-Strong; S?Doughty; SB?Ouellette

Mount Ararat IP H R ER BB SO

Rogers (W,11-1) 7 3 0 0 6 11

Oxford Hills IP H R ER BB SO

Baker (L,6-2) 7 3 2 2 4 9

WP?Rogers; Baker 3; T?1:38; ATT?200 (est.)