WINSLOW — Entering the season, the buzz around Winslow High School freshman pitcher Dylan Hapworth was his fastball, which has been clocked in the low 80s. On Wednesday, Hapworth showed he’s not just all heat on the mound, mixing in a strong curveball in a gutsy 2-1 win over Maranacook.

“Dylan pitched the best game of his season. He had a good defense behind him. He definitely mixed it up well today, which was good to see,” Winslow coach Jesse LaCasse said. “Instead of just using his fastball to overpower hitters, he mixed everything up.”

Hapworth never had a one-two-three inning. He gave up four hits, walked five and struck out seven to earn the win for Winslow (10-2). Maranacook (7-6) stranded nine runners, including the tying run on second base in the seventh inning.

“I was just sticking to the game plan, hitting the corners,” Hapworth said. “I knew the three and four hitters were pretty good, so I kept it away from them. I dropped the curveball in, and it worked out today.”

This game came down to one play that was made, and one that was not. With Winslow ahead 1-0 in the top of the third inning, Maranacook shortstop Tucker Whitman had a base hit to right field. Nate Johnson tried to score from second base, but was thrown out at the plate by Taylor Roy.

In the bottom of the fourth, Winslow’s Justin Fortier hit a popup to short right center that was dropped by Maranacook center fielder Zach Elwell with two outs. Joe Hopkins scored on the play, giving the Black Raiders a 2-0 lead.

“Games with two good ballclubs are often decided with a play or two. Today we were on the wrong side of the plays. We didn’t quite execute the way we know how,” Maranacook coach Jared Lemieux said. “It’s baseball. Little things make the difference.”

The Black Bears got a run back in the top of the fifth. Elwell broke to steal third base, and scored all the way from second when the pitch was wild.

Winslow took a 1-0 lead in the first. Gabe Smith led off with a single, went to second on a groundout by Don Camp, and scored on Hapworth’s single to right.

Nate Johnson went the first four innings for Maranacook, striking out two and walking one. Ryan Vanek threw two scoreless innings of relief.

“I thought our pitchers did a good job keeping them off balance,” Lemieux said. “We didn’t get enough hits to win the ballgame. We just didn’t execute a couple times.”

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com