OAKLAND — Hampden Academy right fielder Brandon Smith couldn’t point to an exact moment or game in which his team started hitting. He knows the Broncos are hitting well now, and that trend continued Wednesday in a 9-2 win at Messalonskee.
“We’ve just been really ripping the ball. We just hit a groove,” said Smith, who had three of Hampden’s 13 hits, including a pair of doubles. “It’s really just being a team. It’s being able to adjust to pitchers quickly rather than later in the game.”
It was the Broncos’ (8-3) sixth win in seven games. Hampden jumped on Messalonskee’s young pitching early, scoring all nine runs over the first four innings. Messalonskee started freshman Andrew Everett, who made his varsity pitching debut. Everett pitched into the third, before giving the ball to Elijah Caret.
“A great hitting team,” Messalonskee (3-7) coach Ray Bernier said. “When you’re facing a team that’s hot in hitting, you definitely can’t make errors. Some errors and some misreads in the field, I think we have to make those plays. You can’t give them the extra outs.”
The Eagles committed four errors and misplayed a few other balls into hits, giving an already strong Hampden lineup more chances to swing. The Broncos got a pair of runs in the first inning when Andrew Gendreau’s two-run single plated Smith and Casey Sudbeck. Hampden added a run in the second when Nick Lorenzo and Smith hit back-to-back doubles with two outs.
Smith’s second double of the game — leading off the top of the fourth inning — began a four-run inning to give Hampden a 9-1 lead.
“I just had to adjust and drive like my coach has been telling me all year,” Smith said.
Colby Dexter scored both Messalonskee runs. Dexter reached on an error in the second inning, swiped second base, and scored on Noah Tuttle’s RBI single. In the bottom of the fourth, Dexter hit a solo home run to left field.
Hampden starter Derek Gendreau went six innings for the win, striking out three and walking two.
Sudbeck, Alex McKenney and Smith each scored two runs for the Broncos.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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