WINSLOW — Winslow High School baseball coach Aaron Wolfe has seen junior pitcher Jake Trask improve with each outing. On Monday, against rival Waterville, Trask pitched his best game of the season.
Trask threw a two-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking one. No Waterville baserunner reached third base, and Winslow took a 5-0 win.
“That’s definitely the best he’s pitched all year. It’s been building to that,” Wolfe said of Trask. “The last few games, he’s pitched well. The last two or three times he’s pitched, he’s been spot on.”
Trask relied on a fastball, a slider and a sweeping curveball to keep Waterville (7-4) hitters off balance, and credited catcher Bobby Chenard for calling a good game.
“In the bullpen I felt good, and after the first inning, when we were making plays and everything was going good, I felt right today,” Trask said.
Trask also worked quickly. So quickly, a few Purple Panther hitters were almost caught looking down at coach Don Sawyer in the third base box when Trask was in his windup.
“I think he just worked quick, and had our kids off balance. I guess we’re just not used to that kind of approach right now,” Sawyer said.
Trask gave up just two hits, an infield single to Dan Pooler in the fourth inning, and a single to left to Chay Phelps in the fifth. The Panthers had their best chance to score in the fifth, with two on and one out, but a strikeout and a fielder’s choice got the Black Raiders out of the inning.
Winslow took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Dameron Rodrigue singled and went to second base when Dylan Hapworth was hit by a pitch. Rodrigue went to third on a wild pitch, and broke for home on the same play when the Panthers were late covering the plate. Catcher Corey Huerfano’s throw to pitcher Dalton Wood covering home sailed high, however, and Rodrigue scored.
The Black Raiders (8-3) added four insurance runs in the sixth. Spencer Miranda and Ben Smith started the inning with back-to-back singles. With one out and runners on second and third base, Waterville intentionally walked Hapworth. Alex Berard came up and delivered a two-run double to the left centerfield gap.
“I figured they were going to walk (Hapworth). Usually you want to make them pay when they do that, so I just got a good pitch and took it to a gap,” Berard said.
Trask added an RBI single and Chenard drove in a run with a groundout. Trask worked a one-two-three seventh inning for the win, and retired the final eight hitters he faced. Winslow’s defense came up big throughout the game, the best play a diving catch by Smith in centerfield to end the third inning.
“Defense was huge today. We’ve kind of struggled back and forth all year, but today was a great game for the defense. Everything looked good, all the way through,” Berard said.
Wood pitched a strong game for Waterville, giving up five hits while striking out seven.
“(Wood) spun up a really good game. I thought he threw a great pitch to Berard, but he hit a line drive in the gap. That got it going for them,” Sawyer said.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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