Witches survive 7th, hold off Coyotes Bases-loaded strikeout ends bid

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BANGOR – The first six innings were easy for the Brewer baseball team Monday night.

The seventh inning was a matter of survival, which the Witches did – barely – to earn a 4-3 victory over Old Town at Mansfield Stadium.

Junior righthander Greg Higgins shut out the Coyotes on four hits through six innings as the Witches built a 4-0 lead.

“Greg Higgins pitched a great high school game,” said Brewer coach David Morris. “He really changed things up, and he kept his composure in a lot of situations.”

But Old Town then parlayed three walks, a hit batsman, and Brewer’s only two errors into a three-run rally against Prentiss Swett in the seventh. But Swett struck out Evan Paradis with a game-ending 3-2 slider – leaving the bases loaded just two pitches after Paradis ripped what would have been a game-winning shot down the left-field line just foul.

“I thought I was out of the inning,” said Swett, who retired two of the first three batters he faced in the seventh. “But you just have to battle through it. I wasn’t throwing pitches over the plate, and they were being patient. I threw a couple of sliders outside that I thought they were going to bite on and they held back, but finally I got that last slider outside to strike him out to end it.”

Freshman outfielder Eric White had two of Brewer’s seven hits, including the first of back-to-back doubles with one out in the first inning. After White one-hopped the left-field fence, Brad Brown blasted Jarrett Lukas’ next pitch into the left-center field gap to give the Witches a 1-0 lead.

Jim Nicknair singled to center with one out in the second, then stole second and scored as Shun Sasaki reached on an error. Sasaki scored to make it 3-0 when Rick Adams doubled to left-center.

“We hit the ball pretty well, and I thought we set the tempo coming out,” Morris said. “With the Lukas kid being a premier player in our league, I thought our kids handled that very well and came out and set an example that they weren’t going to be intimidated.”

Brewer (1-1) scored what turned out to be a crucial insurance run in the fourth. Tim Bush reached on an infield hit and went to third on two fielder’s choices before scoring on White’s two-out infield single up the middle.

Old Town (1-1) advanced only three runners to second base during the first six innings against Higgins and an errorless Brewer defense.

But the Coyotes capitalized on opportunity in the seventh as back-to-back infield errors by Brewer with two outs plated pinch runner Dan LeBreton to end the Witches’ shutout bid. Swett, who relieved Higgins to start the inning, then got a little wild with a pair of walks, a wild pitch, and a hit batter plating two more runs and leaving the bases loaded for Paradis.

He lined Swett’s 2-1 pitch down the left-field line, but it landed just foul. Paradis took the next pitch for a ball and a full count before Swett won the battle – and Brewer survived the inning.

“I was proud that the guys didn’t give up down four in the bottom of the seventh,” said Old Town coach David Utterback. “To have the winning run at second with two outs, and if Evan puts that ball seven inches to the right, we’re on the bus celebrating.”

WITCHES 4, COYOTES 3

Brewer (1-1) Old Town (1-1)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Adams, 2b 3 0 1 1 Honey, cf 4 1 0

White, lf 3 1 2 1 Cates, lf 3 0 0

Brown, 1b 4 0 1 1 Lukas, p-ss 2 0 1

Swett, dh-p 3 0 0 0 Leland, c-p 3 0 0

Higgins, p 1 0 0 0 Paradis, ss-2b 4 0 0

McLaughlin, 3b 3 0 0 0 Smith, 2b-3b 2 0

Smith, ss 3 0 0 0 A. Fournier, dh 2 0 0

Nicknair, rf 3 1 2 0 LeBreton, 3b-c 0 1 0

Bush, c 2 1 1 0 Demmons, pr 0 0 0

Thoms, ph 1 0 0 0 Getchell, 1b 3 0 0

Sasaki, cf 3 1 0 0 C. Fournier, rf 2 1 0

Totals 29 4 7 3 Totals 25 3 4 1

Brewer 120 100 0 – 4

Old Town 000 000 3 – 3

E-Adams, Smith; Paradis; LOB-Brewer 7, Old Town 8; 2B-Adams, White, Brown; S-Paradis; SB-Adams, Nicknair; Lukas, Paradis

Brewer IP H R ER BB SO

Higgins (W, 1-0) 6 4 0 0 1 3

Swett 1 0 3 0 3 2

Old Town IP H R ER BB SO

Lukas (L, 0-1) 4 6 4 2 1 6

Leland 3 1 0 0 1 6

HBP-Lukas 2 (by Higgins, Swett); White (by Lukas); WP-Swett; Lukas, Leland; PB-LeBreton; T-2:13; ATT-200 (est.)