Franklin County has put itself in great shape for one of the four playoff spots in American Legion baseball Zone 2. Pitching is probably the biggest reason, as Tim Smith, Jordan Richard, Eli Capen, Bradley Jackson and Jimmy Neal have all thrown quality innings.

“There isn’t a guy on our team who isn’t really pitching well,” Franklin coach Dan Stefanilo said. “That’s a big key to winning games.”

The Flyers were 7-4 heading into Wednesday night’s game at Post 51. That left Franklin a full game ahead of Gardiner/Post 204, which is in fourth place at 5-4. The Zone tournament is the weekend of July 16-17. The Zone winner advances to the state tournament, while the Zone runner-up will need to win a play-in game July 23 against the Zone 1 runner-up.

Lincoln County (5-6) and South China Subway (4-6) each lost on Tuesday, making Franklin’s 4-3, 10-inning victory over Waterville that night even more important.

Smith started that game and allowed one earned run in seven innings. Jackson pitched the final three, and stranded the go-ahead run at third in all three frames.

“We scraped and battled in extra innings, and somehow came up with a nice base hit by Jake Lord to finish it,” Stefanilo said.

The Flyers also had their chances to bring home some runners from scoring position, and Stefanilo would like to see improvement in that area. Franklin has a doubleheader at Augusta on Saturday and plays Gardiner/Post 204 and Waterville next week.

“We always say, ‘If you want to be something special, then you’ve got to do something special,’ ” Stefanilo said. “We play a lot of playoff teams coming down the stretch. So we have to play like we’re capable of playing, and good things will happen.”

***

The two teams atop the Zone 2 standings are both looking to make up for a disappointing finish last summer. Second-place Augusta (8-2) lost in the state final, and first-place Post 51 (8-1) is aiming just to get to the state tournament.

Post 51, which is made up of Messalonskee and Lawrence high school players, finished in first place in the Zone during the regular season last summer, but split two games in the Zone tournament before being eliminated with a 21-2 loss to Augusta.

“I think our pitching has been rested more,” Post 51 assistant coach Tom Dexter said. “Even with all these games, we’ve had some other guys pitch. So their arms are rested. I think we had some tired arms toward the end of the year last year.”

Post 51’s top three starting pitchers this season have been Nate Veilleux, Chris Deraps and Blair Blaisdell, with Reid Nutter and Shawn Russell pitching strong relief. There was some concern after Blaisdell had to leave his start last Tuesday against Lincoln after four innings, but Dexter said he is all systems go now.

“He’s fine,” Dexter said. “He’s ready to go. He’s ready for his next start.”

With Dylan Foster, Blaisdell, Sam Dexter, Matt Woodbury and Cale Knox batting 1 through 5 in the lineup, Post 51 has been able to score runs. The team’s only loss was 1-0 to Lincoln.

“I think we have a team with a lot of confidence, and that goes a long way,” Coach Dexter said.

***

Madison mainly has players from Skowhegan and Madison high schools. There’s also one player from Carrabec, and players from Valley and Forest Hills are eligible if they can handle the travel.

This year, there’s a wild card of sorts: Pat Ryan, a 16-year-old pitcher/outfielder who went to Livermore Falls this past school year.

“I guess next year he’s going to Winthrop,” Madison coach Peter Kirby said. “He went to (Gardiner/Post 204) and they had a full roster. So his parents were looking around for a team. We actually had one slot open, so we said, ‘Hey, if the kid wants to play baseball, bring him on. We’ll let him play.”

Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com

Copy the Story Link