BANGOR – Josh Withee is feeling comfortable on the pitching mound these days, and that’s good news for the Foxcroft Academy Ponies.

The senior lefthander dominated John Bapst of Bangor in a Penobscot Valley Conference Class B baseball clash at Mansfield Stadium on Monday night, striking out 12 while yielding just two hits and no walks as the Ponies cruised to an 11-0 victory.

Withee had pinpoint control, going to a three-ball count on only one batter while throwing 82 pitches in leading 8-3 Foxcroft to its seventh straight victory.

“I had almost all my stuff working,” said Withee, who plans to play baseball at Springfield (Mass.) College next year. “I was really throwing my slider and my curveball well, and my fastball seemed to have a little extra pop today.”

For the season, Withee is 3-1 and has allowed 20 hits in 35 innings while striking out 46.

“He’s looked pretty sharp this spring, and probably tonight was the best so far,” said Foxcroft coach Paul Withee, Josh’s father. “I thought Josh really was on top of his game. He got ahead of the hitters and they had no idea where the ball was coming next or what pitch was coming next.”

Another key, coach Withee said, was the other half of the Ponies’ pitching battery, sophomore catcher Adam Conway.

“Adam called a tremendous game,” he said. “I didn’t call one pitch tonight, he called all the pitches and did a phenomenal job.”

While Josh Withee was in control throughout the contest, Foxcroft’s offense capitalized on 13 walks issued by John Bapst pitchers.

Matt Carey walked to lead off the game, went to third on a Withee single and scored on a balk by John Bapst starter Mike Tardiff to give Foxcroft a 1-0 lead.

The Ponies broke the game open in the third, sending 12 batters to the plate to score six runs and extend their lead to 7-0. Foxcroft drew five walks and had a hit batsman during the uprising, with Mike Freese contributing a bases-loaded single that plated all three baserunners when the ball was misplayed in the outfield.

Foxcroft added another run in the fourth, as Justin Freeman singled and scored on a Freese groundout. A two-run single by Shawn Grass highlighted a three-run rally by the Ponies in the seventh.

Josh Withee finished with three of Foxcroft’s nine hits, all singles. Sophomore first baseman Josh Pelletier added two hits, and now is batting .513 for the season.

“I thought we were real patient,” coach Withee said. “Their pitcher struggled, and we made him throw strikes. That worked to our advantage, and we came up with some hits when we needed them.”

Those hits were more than enough support for Josh Withee, who retired the last 16 batters he faced after Joe Baillargeon singled to right for 6-5 John Bapst with two outs in the second inning.

“I was just trying to keep the ball down, get some ground balls, get a few strikeouts here and there if possible, but let my defense do the work and try to save my arm as much as I can,” he said.

“I’ve felt really good my last two or three outings. At the first of the year it’s always tough getting back into the routine, especially coming off a long basketball season, but I really feel comfortable on the mound right now.”

PONIES 11, CRUSADERS 0

Foxcroft (8-3) John Bapst (6-5)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Carey, ss 1 1 0 0 Roach, cf 3 0 0

Forrest, ph 1 0 0 0 Myerowitz, rf 2 0 0

C. Pelletier, 2b 4 0 0 0 Sturgeon, rf 1 0

White, ph 0 0 0 0 Means, ss 3 0 0

Withee, p 5 2 3 0 Keefe, 2b 2 0 0

J. Pelletier, 1b 4 2 2 0 Clark, 2b 1 0

Stakutis, dh 3 2 0 0 Leighton, dh 3 0 0

Conway, c 1 0 1 0 Nason, 3b 0 0 0

Grass, rf 3 1 1 2 Tardiff, p 1 0 0

Freeman, 3b 4 2 1 1 Andrews, p 1 0 0

Croan, cf 1 1 0 0 Baillargeon, 1b 2 0 0

Edgerly, ph 0 0 0 0 Leavitt, lf 2 0 0

Freese, lf 4 0 1 2 Umphrey, lf 0 0 0

Hathaway, c 1 0 0 0

Carey, c 1 0 0 0

Totals 31 11 9 5 Totals 23 0 2 0

Foxcroft 106 100 3 ? 11

John Bapst 000 000 0 ? 0

E?Hathaway, Means, Leavitt; LOB?Foxcroft 13, John Bapst 2; SB?Freeman 2, Withee, Grass, Stakutis; Means

Foxcroft IP H R ER BB SO

Withee (W, 3-1) 7 2 0 0 0 12

John Bapst IP H R ER BB SO

Tardiff (L, 1-2) 1 3 7 7 9 3

Andrews 6 6 4 4 4 3

HBP?Croan (by Tardiff); WP?Tardiff 2, Andrews; BK?Tardiff; T?1:52; ATT?120