WATERVILLE — Facing a bases loaded, one out situation in the second inning, Waterville pitcher Dalton Wood had one thought.

“Just got to get an out. Make a play and get an out. That’s all it is. It came down to that one play,” Wood said.

Wood got Nokomis’ Mike Massow to hit a grounder to third base, and Cam Denis was able to make the play and get the force out at the plate. One hitter later, a fly ball to center field ended the threat, and Wood was right. Waterville prevailed 2-1 and getting out of that inning unscathed was the difference.

Waterville (3-3) won its third consecutive game. Nokomis dropped to 3-3.

“Dalton made the right pitch, got the ground ball and we didn’t panic and made the play at the plate,” Waterville coach Dennis Martin said. “That’s what we’ve been doing the last couple of games. We’ve been buckling down and the defense has come through with a big play when we need it.”

All the runs in the game were scored in the fourth inning. Nokomis took a 1-0 lead when Josh Smestad scored on Massow’s infield single. Waterville answered in the bottom of the inning, when it took advantage of Nokomis mistakes.

Andrew Roderigue led off the fourth with a single, Waterville’s first hit of the game. Chay Phelps was hit by a pitch, and when Cody Pellerin tried to sacrifice the runners over, both Roderigue and Phelps scored on a throwing error to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead.

“Just not good baseball by Nokomis today,” Nokomis coach Jared Foster said. “That’s it, errors. We killed ourselves today.”

Along with that key error, Nokomis had four runners thrown out on the bases, including two at the plate. The mistakes spoiled a strong outing by pitcher Josh Perry, who allowed just three hits and one hit while striking out three. Perry was perfect for three innings, before the Warriors melted down in the fourth inning.

For Waterville, Wood was equally impressive. He also carried a no-hitter into the fourth inning and finished with three hits, three walks and four strikeouts. Wood had command of all three of his pitches (fastball, curveball and changeup). Aside from the second inning, when Wood loaded the bases on a pair of walks and a hit batter, he was in control. It was the second strong outing for Wood, who threw a four-hit shutout against Gardiner last week.

“He’s getting all three for strikes. He’s dialed in and getting ahead of hitters,” Martin said.

Added Wood: “My curveball’s been feeling amazing the last couple of games. I’m hitting spots and we’re playing nice defense.”

The Panthers flashed that defense a few times Tuesday. Denis showed range at third, covering a lot of ground to get to balls and make strong throws to first. The game ended when Roderigue made a diving catch of a pop up to center field. At first, it was ruled Roderigue didn’t make the play, but the umpires got together and reversed the call.

Roderigue had two of Waterville’s three hits, including a double. Adam Barre also doubled for the Panthers.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM

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