Midcoast South 14-year-old Babe Ruth all-stars won the District 2 championship in Searsport on Sunday. Midcoast South won three straight games by mercy ruling on their way to the D2 crown. With the win, MC South qualifies for the State Babe Ruth tournament, to be held at Westbrook High School. Their first game is Fri., July 24 at 2 p.m.
“I was very pleased with their overall effort Natty (Baptist) in game one and Stephen (Quinlan) in game two both pitched ahead in the count and averaged around 15 pitches an inning,” said team manager Don Shields. “They were both sharp and that allowed us to save our staff for Sunday. Defensively we made all the plays and did not commit an error (in first two games).
That is such a key for any team to be successful; they go hand and hand, as the lack of errors saves pitches for our staff. At the plate, from the 4th inning on of game one we scored 20 runs on the day and it wasn’t just one player as nine of our 11 kids got hits during the day (Friday).”
Stephen Quinlan hit an RBI single in the 1st inning, scoring Cody Ames to give South an early lead. The score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the 4th inning. Dylan Maloney hit a lead off single, Brandon Bonney reached on an error and both came home on an Israel Daiute single.
South added five runs in the 5th. Quinlan led off with a double, moved to third on a Jeff Cheney sacrifice and scored on a Baptist single. Maloney walked, Bonney singled and they and Baptist all scored on throwing errors. Daiute hit a double and scored on a Brandon Soper single. South ended the game early with two runs in the 6th. Quinlan singled and scored on a Seth Batty single. Batty scored on a passed ball to end the game 10 zip.
Hitting for South were Quinlan with a triple, double and single, Baptist a double and single, Daiute a double and single, and Cody Ames, Soper, Cheney Batty, Maloney, and Bonney a single each. Gabe Pelletier had the only hit for Ararat, a 2nd inning single.
MC South took a 3-0 lead in the top of the 1st on a two run single to Baptist scoring Quinlan and Cheney, and an RBI single to Bonney.
MC North scored their lone run in the home half of the inning when Hart doubled, stole second and scored on a passed ball.
MC South added 4 runs in the 1st. Mike Kee was hit by a pitch and scored on a Quinlan single. Soper reached on an error and scored on a throwing error. Baptist walked and both he and Quinlan scored on a Maloney double. They added three runs in the 4th on a two run single to Baptist, scoring Quinlan and Cheney. Baptist scored on a Maloney sacrifice. MC South won by 10 run mercy ruling with a run in the 5th when Quinlan doubled and scored on a Cheney single.
Hitting for MC South were Cheney a double and 2 singles, Quinlan with a double and single, Baptist 2 singles, Maloney a double, and Bonney and Drew Townsend a single each. Hitting for MC North were Hart and Carroll with a double each and Theo LaBlanc a single.
MC North took a 2-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning. Hart singled and scored when Adam Carlsen reached on an error. Hall walked, stole second, went to third on a Carroll sacrifice and scored on a Dillan Moody single.
MC South scored a run in the 1st on a Cheney walk and Baptist RBI double. They tied the game in the 2nd when Daiute singled, moved over on an Ames sacrifice bunt and scored on a passed ball.
MC South broke the game open with a 10 run 3rd inning, then held North scoreless to end the game early. Quinlan walked and scored on a throwing error. Cheney singled and scored on a wild pitch. Maloney walked and scored on a Bonney single. Bonney scored on a passed ball. Daiute walked, stole second, went to third when Ames reached on an error and scored on a passed ball. Townsend drove in Ames with a single and scored on a Soper single. Soper came home when Cheney reached on an error. Baptist reached on an error and he and Cheney scored on a Maloney single.
Hitting for MC South were Baptist and Batty with a double each, and Soper, Cheney, Maloney, Bonney, Daiute and Townsend a single each. Hitting for MC North were Kulikowksi a double and Hart, Moody and Greg Clark a single each.
“It is harder to play better than we did in these three games, out scoring our opponents 33-3, out hitting them 31-7 and committing only two errors. Jeff (Cheney) threw very well after struggling just a bit in the 1st. We enter States with three solid starters, Nat Baptist, Stephen Quinlan and Jeff Cheney; solid team defense and a line-up that know we want to play aggressive. These 11 boys have quickly become a team that understands that for us to be successful we have to play as a team,” Shields said.
