BREWER – Brunswick High baseball coach Peter Blake took a chance Saturday afternoon.

He started soft-throwing senior Sam Feldman in the hope the lefthander might keep Brewer hitters off-balance.

As it turned out, it didn’t matter who Blake sent out to the mound. The Witches’ hitters were dialed in.

Top-seeded Brewer reached three Brunswick pitchers for 13 hits in four innings, breezing to a 13-3 victory in an Eastern Maine Class A semifinal at sun-drenched Heddericg Field.

Coach David Morris’ Witches (16-2) scored four times in the first inning and never looked back, winning in 41/2 innings by virtue of the 10-run rule.

“We got those runs in the first inning and came through big,” said Brewer senior first baseman Prentiss Swett, who knocked in five runs. “We had a lot of big innings early on [in games this season] and we put teams away, so we’d only have to play five innings.”

Brewer advances to face No. 6 Hampden Academy (13-6), a winner over No. 2 Cony, in Tuesday’s 5 p.m. regional championship game at Morton Field in Augusta.

“It was a good win for us,” Morris said. “This has been one of our goals [to reach the EM final] and hopefully we’ve got two more. These kids work awful hard.”

The fourth-seeded Dragons finish the season at 12-6.

Swett was among the catalysts for Brewer. He hit an RBI single in the first inning, had a run-producing fielder’s choice in the second, singled in a run in the third and doubled home two runs in the five-run fourth.

Jon Thoms hit a triple and two singles with two RBIs while Eric White and winning pitcher Chase Daniels each posted two singles and knocked in a run.

Shun Sasaki and Daniels also scored three runs each.

“Once we get going, it’s hard to stop us,” said Daniels (6-1), a junior righthander. “It definitely helped having the bats today. We creamed the ball.”

Blake had hoped Feldman (0-1) might challenge the Witches a different look, but Brewer batters weren’t fooled. The hosts struck for six hits and four runs in the first inning alone to set the offensive tone.

“We thought we’d gamble and we’d try a lefty with some junk against them,” Blake said. “We knew they were a good hitting team. They beat us pretty good. Everything they hit seemed to find a hole.”

With plenty of offensive support, Daniels let his defense do most of the work. He spaced six hits, all singles, struck out two and walked one.

“This time of year, you’ve got to play good defense and get good pitching,” Morris said. “Chase didn’t have his best stuff, but he pitched a heck of a game.”

Brewer’s defensive stalwarts included center fielder Sasaki, who made a superb sliding catch in right-center to rob Kevin Wilson of a hit in the second inning, and third baseman Mike Kotredes, who turned in two nifty plays on high choppers in the second and third innings.

Jon Simmons led Brunswick with two singles and a run scored. Jake Faridy had a single and two RBIs.

Feldman (0-1) took the loss, surrendering four runs in only 1/3 of an inning.

The Witches wasted no time jumping on Feldman in the first. Sasaki singled through the box, stole second and took third on White’s one-out, top-spin single past the shortstop.

Swett singled sharply past shortstop to plate the first run, then Thoms pulled a single to left to load the bases. Greg Higgins looped an RBI single to center, Swett scored on a wild pitch and Bill Bissell singled to left to make it 4-0, chasing Feldman.

“It’s different [facing a lefty], but we just had to keep our weight back and adjust to it,” Swett said. “We got on him early and that’s all we needed to do.”

pwarner@bangordailynews.net

990-8240

WITCHES 13, DRAGONS 3

Brunswick (12-6) Brewer (16-2)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Liscovitz, ss-p 2 1 0 0 Sasaki, cf 2 0

Lowe, 2b 2 0 1 0 Daniels, p 3 3 1

Balback pr 0 0 0 0 White, lf 2 2 1

Feldman, p-1b 3 0 1 1 Swett, 1b 4 5

Franklin, pr 0 0 0 0 Thoms, c 3 1 2

Wilson, c 3 0 0 0 Higgins, dh 4 0 1

Simmons, rf 2 1 2 0 Hutchins, 2b 0 0 0

Basquez, dh 2 1 1 0 Bissell, rf 3 0 2

Kelly, 3b 0 0 0 0 Kotredes, 3b 2 1 0

Faridy, lf 2 0 1 2 Smith, ss 2 1 0

Totman, 1b-p 2 0 0 0

Viola, ss 0 0 0 0

Guerette, cf 2 0 0 0

Totals 20 3 6 3 Totals 25 13 13 12

Brunswick 010 11 – 3

Brewer 431 50 – 13

E-Liscovitz 2, Guerette; Swett, Hutchins; LOB-Brunswick 4, Brewer 8; 2B-Swett; 3B-Thoms; DP-Brewer 1; SB-Basquez 2; Sasaki, Bissell, White, Swett, Kotredes 2, Smith

Brunswick IP H R ER BB SO

Feldman (L, 0-1) 1/3 6 4 4 0 0

Totman 3 4 6 5 4 1

Liscovitz 2/3 3 3 3 1 0

Brewer IP H R ER BB SO

Daniels (W, 6-1) 5 6 3 2 1 2

Totman faced three batters in the fourth

HBP-Lowe (by Daniels); WP-Feldman; T-1:55; ATT-225 (est.)