HERMON, Maine — As deep and as balanced as the Class B North baseball world is this spring, one inning often is the difference between celebration and frustration.
The Hermon Hawks experienced the upside of that emerging reality Tuesday, using a six-run uprising in the bottom of the third inning to defeat Old Town 6-1.
Both teams reached the midpoint of their schedule with 5-3 records and a split of their season series, with Hermon avenging a 6-5 loss at Old Town on April 24.
Trailing 1-0, Hermon took control of the rematch by combining four of its five hits in the game — including two by sophomore left fielder River Mullen — with three Old Town errors and three wild pitches to send 10 batters to the plate during its decisive rally.
Senior right-hander Alex Applebee made that five-run cushion stand up with a complete-game seven-hitter that included four strikeouts, two walks and no earned runs allowed.
“It definitely helped me settle down,” said the Hermon ace, now 2-2 this spring. “It’s a lot easier pitching with a five-run lead than a one-run deficit. There’s a lot less pressure. You can just relax and throw the ball.”
Old Town, the two-time defending Class B North champion, took its only lead in the top of the second as Brenden Gasaway reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second and scored on the play when an errant throw was then bobbled in the outfield.
The Coyotes sought to extend the lead in the top of the third, only to have two big defensive plays by Hermon thwart the threat, first when center fielder Garrett Trask threw out Old Town’s Josh Wheeler at the plate as he tried to score on a one-out single by Joseph DiAngelo.
DiAngelo stole second and Liang-Kang Lin walked, but Hermon right-fielder Mark Mailloux then showed his range while flagging down Nick Swift’s wind-blown fly ball down the line to end the inning.
“They had a chance early where they could have gotten some separation from us and obviously it changes the game if you’re down three runs as opposed to one,” said Hermon coach Matt Kinney. “But with Alex making decent pitches and getting ahead of guys and our outfielders making a couple of plays we were able to settle down and put some pressure on them.”
That pressure came during Hermon’s next at-bat, which began modestly as Mullen grounded a single up the middle and was sacrificed to second by Cody Hawes.
A wild pitch by Old Town right-hander Nick Swift and a walk to freshman Eli Reed put runners on first and third with one out before Mullen scored the tying run on a fielder’s choice grounder to shortstop by Mailloux.
Mailloux stole second and went to third on a wild pitch before Keith Pomeroy singled him home with the go-ahead run. Back-to-back errors produced two more runs, then Kent Johnson had an infield hit and Adam Rush reached on the third error of the inning before Mullen capped off the offensive burst with a two-run double down the left-field line.
“I just thought I had to hop on it and put some runs on the board to put our team on top,” said Mullen. “I just opened my hips and pulled it down the line.”
Pomeroy also had two hits in the game for Hermon, both singles, while DiAngelo and Nick Avery each singled twice for Old Town.
“With the way the wind was blowing in today, balls could be hit in the air and they weren’t going anywhere,” said Kinney. “We took advantage of some of their mistakes, which we haven’t necessarily done all that much this year, but when you do take advantage it puts you in a good position and with Alex throwing a bunch of strikes you’ll take your chances that a team has to rack up a bunch of hits to come from behind on a day like this.”
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