Bucks’ Cooke stirs up victory

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BUCKSPORT – Some baseball teams place their catalysts at the top of the batting order.

Bucksport earned its seventh consecutive victory on Monday thanks to a catalyst at the bottom of the lineup card.

Batting ninth, second baseman Teddy Cooke ignited a pair of rallies – just enough to lift the Class B Golden Bucks to a 5-2 victory over Class C Searsport in a Penobscot Valley Conference game.

“I don’t look at [batting ninth] as a bad thing at all,” said Cooke. “I really look at it as a compliment because I have the confidence in myself and my coaches and my teammates have the confidence in me to get on base.

“I look to get a hit or get on base every time I get up, and then let the guys at the top of the order drive me in.”

And that’s exactly what happened as the 7-1 Golden Bucks rallied from a 2-0 deficit.

Cooke walked, stole second, and scored on an opposite-field single by Eddie Robbins to get Bucksport on the board in the third inning. He then singled, took second on Matt Jackson’s sacrifice, stole third – with no one out – and scored when Robbins singled up the middle to kick off a four-run uprising in the bottom of the fifth.

“That steal of third was entirely on his own, and he does that in huge situations,” said Bucksport coach Tiger Stewart. “To me, that’s as big as getting a big hit. When you steal third base with no one out on your own, that’s taking a lot of pressure on your own and saying ‘I’m going to get it done.'”

Chris Maguire followed Robbins’ fifth-inning hit with a run-scoring double to give Bucksport a 3-2 lead. Maguire took third on the throw home, and after Joe Robichaud was hit by a pitch, Cam Wadleigh plated Maguire with a sacrifice fly and Joe Soper drove home Robichaud with an infield single.

That late offense backed up a five-hit pitching performance by Robichaud, a senior righthander. Robichaud struck out eight, walked two and hit a batter in a 108-pitch effort, and while he retired the Vikings in order only once, he didn’t allow anyone past first base over the final four innings.

“My curveball just started working today real good, and my fastball was working, too,” Robichaud said.

Robichaud outdueled Searsport righty Matt Nickerson, who scattered eight hits while striking out six, walking one and hitting a batter.

Nickerson was staked to a 2-0 lead as 7-4 Searsport scored single runs in each of the first two innings. Nickerson hit a two-out single in the first, stole second and scored on Josh Nickerson RBI single to right.

Casey Ashey was hit by a Robichaud pitch with one out in the Searsport second. He advanced on a walk to Kyle Ritchie and scored on a ground single just inside the third-base bag by Caleb Ashey.

But the Vikings managed just three more singles the rest of the way.

“It’s been our Achilles heel all year,” said Searsport coach Dave Pepin. “We pitch well and usually play pretty good defense, but it’s our offense that’s got to come around.”

GOLDEN BUCKS 5, VIKINGS 2

Searsport (7-4) Bucksport (7-1)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Call. Ashey, ss 4 0 1 1 Jackson, ss 3 0

Adams, cf 3 0 1 0 Robbins, cf 4 1 2

M. Nickerson, p 3 1 1 0 Maguire, 3b 3 1

J. Nickerson, 3b 3 0 1 1 Robichaud, p 2 0

Johnson, 1b 3 0 1 0 Wadleigh, c 2 0 1

Cameron, 2b 3 0 0 0 Fish, pr 0 0 0

Cas. Ashey, c 2 1 0 0 Soper, dh 3 1

Ritchie, lf 2 0 0 0 Bisher, 1b 0 0 0

Gallant, rf 2 0 0 0 Freeman, rf 3 0 0

McHatten, ph 0 0 0 0 Dedmon, lf 3 0 0

Cooke, 2b 2 2 1 1

Totals 25 2 5 2 Totals 25 5 8 5

Searsport 110 000 0 – 2

Bucksport 001 040 x – 5

E-Cal. Ashey 2, Cameron; Maguire; LOB-Searsport 6, Bucksport 6; 2B-Maguire; 3B- Maguire; DP- Ritchie to Cameron; Dedmon to Cooke; S-Jackson; SF-Wadleigh; SB-M. Nickerson; Cookle 2, Robichaud, Fish

Searsport IP H R ER BB SO

M. Nickerson (L, 1-1) 6 8 5 5 1 6

Bucksport IP H R ER BB SO

Robichaud (W, 4-1) 7 5 2 2 2 8

HBP-Robichaud (by M. Nickerson); Cas. Ashey (by Robichaud); BK- M. Nickerson; PB-Cas. Ashey; T-1:38; ATT-100 (est.)