Speed lifts Old Town by Brewer Coyotes trip up Witches in eighth

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BREWER – Old Town is regarded as one of the better hitting baseball teams in Eastern Maine Class A this spring, but it was speed that helped the Coyotes outlast Brewer 6-5 in eight innings at Heddericg Field on Saturday.

Defensive speed came from right fielder Brian Lonko, who made a diving catch of Shawn Gray’s line drive to open the top of the eighth.

“I saw it coming, and I timed it perfect and got it,” said Lonko, a converted infielder. “I knew I could make the play, I knew I had it.”

The catch grew even more important for the Coyotes when Brandon Hardy and Ricky Adams then singled to put runners on first and third with one out. But Dana Leland retired Ricky Porter on a soft infield liner, then got Reid McLaughlin to fly out to end the threat.

Old Town’s offensive speed followed from Nathan Lonko, initially as he beat out an infield hit off Brewer reliever Greg Higgins to start the bottom of the inning.

“I knew the first baseman had come off the bag to get the ball, and the pitcher was a little bigger than me, so I figured I’d run my hardest and I ended up beating him to the base,” he said.

An error on Tyler Honey’s sacrifice and a one-out single by Cory Estes – extending his hitting streak to all 11 games this spring – loaded the bases before Jarrett Lukas hit a game-ending sacrifice fly to give Old Town its only lead.

“That fly ball wasn’t very deep,” said Old Town coach Dave Utterback, “but Nathan’s got some wheels, so I felt comfortable sending him home.”

Leland earned the win with three innings of scoreless relief.

“Dana’s done that all year for us,” said Utterback. “He comes in and throws strikes. He throws fairly hard, and he just battles.”

The win should give 7-4 Old Town a boost in the Heal points, given that 8-4 Brewer has been ranked high in the division while the Coyotes had languished in the middle of the pack despite their record.

Catcher Jared Goody paced Old Town’s 12-hit offense with three singles, while Nathan Lonko doubled and singled and Brian Lonko and Leland each singled twice.

Adams tripled and singled for Brewer, while Hardy, Corey Cushing, and Prentiss Swett each singled twice.

“The one thing I thought they did a better job of today and where we got outcoached was they had a lot more enthusiasm,” said Brewer coach David Morris, whose team defeated Old Town 13-2 in five innings earlier this season. “When we had runners on first and third [in the eighth], they didn’t play like they did the first time. The first time we played them, they sort of sat back on their heels, but in this game they stayed tough, they had the momentum, and they got the job done.”

McLaughlin singled home Porter to give Brewer a 1-0 lead in the top of the first of a game moved from Old Town to Brewer due to field conditions. The Witches capitalized on a hit batter, two walks, and a wild pitch after two were out in the third to make it 2-0.

Old Town scored in the bottom of the third when Nathan Lonko doubled, moved to third on a one-out single by Brian Lonko, and scored as Estes reached on an error.

Brewer made it 3-1 in the fourth. Cushing singled and pinch runner Davey Perry advanced on a groundout and a single by Hardy before stealing home while Hardy got caught in a rundown between first and second bases.

Old Town got that run back in the bottom of the inning. Goody singled to center, went to second on a balk, and scored on back-to-back singles by Leland and Adam Fournier.

Brewer pushed its lead to 5-2 with two unearned runs in the fifth, but Goody guided a two-run single to right-center in the bottom of the inning.

The Coyotes scored the equalizer an inning later. Fournier drew a leadoff walk and pinch runner Evan Paradis went to second on a sacrifice by Nathan Lonko before scoring on Brian Lonko’s single to right-center.

COYOTES 6, WITCHES 5

(8 innings)

Brewer (8-4) Old Town (7-4)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Porter, cf 4 2 1 0 B. Lonko, cf-rf 5 0 1

McLaughlin, 2b-lf 4 1 1 1 Estes, p-cf 3 1

Kotredes, c 3 1 0 0 Lukas, ss 4 1 1

Swett, 1b 3 0 2 0 Brewer, 3b 3 0 0

Sasaki, rf 2 0 0 0 Goody, c 4 1 2

Economy, ph 1 0 0 0 Leland, rf-p 4 0 0

Higgins, p 1 0 0 0 C. Fournier, pr 0 0 0

Cushing, p-2b 4 0 2 0 A. Fournier, 1b 3 1

Perry, pr 0 1 0 0 Paradis, pr 0 1 0

Gray, 3b 4 0 0 0 N. Lonko, 2b 3 2 0

Hardy, dh 4 0 2 0 Honey, lf 3 0 0

Nicknair, lf-rf 0 0 0 0

Adams, ss 4 0 2 0

Totals 34 5 10 1 Totals 32 6 12 6

Brewer 101 120 00 – 5

Old Town 001 121 01 – 6

Two outs when winning run scored.

E-McLaughlin, Gray; Lukas 2; LOB-Brewer 10, Old Town 9; 2B-Lukas, N. Lonko; 3B-Adams; DP-Lukas-N. Lonko-A. Fournier; S-N. Lonko, Honey; SF-Lukas; SB-Porter 2, Swett, Perry, Nicknair

Brewer IP H R ER BB SO

Cushing 5 2/3 9 5 5 3 1

Higgins (L, 2-1) 2 3 1 0 1 2

Old Town IP H R ER BB SO

Estes 5 6 5 3 3 3

Leland (W, 2-0) 3 4 0 0 0 3

HBP-McLaughlin (by Estes); WP-Estes 3; BK-Cushing; T-2:00; ATT-125 (est.)