BREWER, Maine — The heroes in any championship pursuit are at times quite predictable, at other times quite unanticipated.
For the Brewer baseball team, heroism during its 7-6 victory over upset-minded Lawrence of Fairfield in an Eastern Maine Class A preliminary round game at Heddericg Field on Tuesday came from the latter category.
Senior designated hitter Jon Thoms, a key contributor during the Witches’ run to the 2008 regional title but limited to one regular-season game this spring due to a knee injury, gave Brewer hope with his first hit of the season — a three-run homer that tied the game at 4-4 in the third inning.
And sophomore second baseman Brandon Gendreau, who had driven in all of two runs this spring, singled home pinch-runner Tyler Desjardins with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to advance the sixth-ranked Witches (12-5) to a quarterfinal matchup at No. 3 Cony of Augusta on Thursday.
No. 11 Lawrence, which edged Mt. Blue of Farmington in an eight-inning play-in game Saturday just to earn the final playoff berth in the division, ends its season at 7-11.
“Good teams just find a way to win,” said Brewer coach Dave Morris after his team’s third win of the season over Lawrence. “We just hung in there, and you can say a lot about an 11th seed coming in and playing with a lot of emotion, but we’re a sixth seed that’s worked hard and played hard, and that’s just baseball. We’re just happy to be on the winning side.”
With the game tied at 6-6, senior catcher Andy Bush ignited Brewer’s seventh-inning rally with a one-out single to left. Desjardins ran for Bush and stole second despite a pitchout by Lawrence reliever Chris DeRaps.
Matt Helfen drew an intentional walk before Thoms popped out to DeRaps, leaving two on and two out.
Gendreau, the No. 8 batter in Brewer’s lineup, then lined a sharp single to left. Lawrence outfielder Alex Leathers came up firing, but the throw was off target and Desjardins scored easily from second base.
“The first pitch he gave me was a fastball and the second pitch was a curveball,” said Gendreau, “so I figured on the third pitch he’d come back with a fastball. It was inside, so I just tried to pull it and drive it.”
Lawrence had built a 4-1 lead through 2½ innings thanks to some early wildness by Brewer starter Pat McEwen and two-run doubles by Chris Folsom and DeRaps.
Brewer needed something to quell the Bulldogs’ momentum, and Thoms delivered.
The Witches had two runners aboard with two out in the bottom of the third on walks to Eric White and Helfen by Lawrence starter Blair Blaisdell.
That brought up Thoms, who had his first two at-bats of the spring in the Witches’ regular-season finale but had practiced with the team throughout the spring while rehabilitating his injured knee.
Two scrimmages just before the playoffs gave him some extra at-bats, just what he needed to get back his hitting groove.
And when Blaisdell grooved a 1-1 fastball on the outside corner, Thoms went with the pitch to the opposite field and drove it over the fence in right-center more than 350 feet away.
“I was thinking fastball all the way, and he threw it a little bit outside and I just sat back and drove it the other way,” said Thoms.
Brewer then took a 6-4 lead with two runs in the fourth, a rally capped off by Billy Bissell’s two-out RBI double to right center.
But Brock Lawrence tripled and scored on a two-out double by Blaisdell in the fifth, and Lawrence added an unearned run in the sixth to tie the game.
“You really have to give credit to Lawrence,” said Morris. “They’re a good baseball team, and they came in with great emotion and played a great baseball game.”
Chase Daniels earned the pitching win, allowing one earned run on four hits with six strikeouts and three walks over 4ª innings.
“I definitely wasn’t expecting to pitch today, but I just had to come in and throw strikes,” said Daniels, who featured his curveball against the Lawrence lineup.
