BRUNSWICK, Maine — There were 15 runs in Brunswick High School baseball’s season opener against Hampden Academy on Wednesday, but the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference game wasn’t decided at the plate.
The Broncos took advantage of multiple throwing errors, wild pitches and passed balls, using a big third inning to capture a 9-6 road win in the teams’ mutual season opener.
“In situations where plays needed to be made, plays weren’t being made,” Brunswick coach Luke Potter said. “We got burned defensively. We shot ourselves in the foot a lot today.”
The damage began in the second inning. Brunswick starter Alex Larson walked Jackson Gilmore and a wild pickoff attempt and a tag-up quickly moved Gilmore to third base before a wild pitch brought him home.
The Broncos were just getting started.
Tommy Farrar and Branden Smith reached base on two consecutive errors at first base to start the third inning, and were promptly driven in by hits from Jordan Dysart and Andrew Gendreau. RBIs from Casey Sudbeck and Alex McKenny followed, and suddenly, Hampden had five runs on the board.
Larson allowed eight runs, but just three were earned. He struck out two and the Dragons committed five errors behind him.
Hampden added two insurance runs in the sixth, with the second coming after an infield base hit, a stolen base and another error prefaced an RBI single from McKenny.
“I’m pleased, obviously. It’s game one,” Hampden Academy coach McLean Poulin said. “We were a little sloppy there at the end, but the thing I’m proud of is we took advantage of their mistakes, so that was huge for us.”
The Broncos stole seven bases.
Farrar pitched five innings and finished with eight strikeouts.
“I definitely didn’t have my best stuff today,” Farrar said. “I know last year I came out and started the season a lot better than this season, but coach told me to just attack the hitters. I listened to him and it definitely paid off.”
The Dragons broke through in the third inning, when Will Bessey and Elias Henze each doubled and scored. Nelson Gray was in scoring position before Farrar ended the inning with back-to-back strikeouts.
Gray singled and scored as part of a Brunswick final surge in the seventh. Larson drove in Sam Shope and Cam Dunton on a two-RBI double deep in the gap.
“That little rally at the end is too little, too late because of how we played defensively early in the game,” Potter said
Smith came on in relief for Hampden, giving up four runs in three innings.
Farrar said that after a slow start last year, it was important for his team to close out the game and get this campaign rolling.
“It’s definitely huge,” Farrar said. “We had a good preseason this year, and last year we started the season with a couple losses. To start the year on a good note, it’s going to get the ball rolling for us.”