SOUTH CHINA — Cony pitcher Zack Lachance didn’t lose any confidence after giving up the game-tying runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

“I knew we needed to get hits and I trusted my team, and I knew we could do it,” Lachance said.

Ryan Edwards led off the Cony eighth with a single, took second and third base on a throwing error, then scored the go-ahead run on Simon Yorks’ sacrifice fly to left field. Lachance made the run stand up, pitching a perfect bottom of the eighth to give the Rams a 5-4 win.

With the win, Cony (10-5) secures home field for the first round of the Eastern Class A playoffs.

“It’s a good team we just beat, and they fought us tooth and nail, right to the end,” Cony coach Don Plourde said.

It was the second consecutive eight-inning loss for Erskine (9-6), which lost 2-1 to Lewiston on Wednesday.

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“We didn’t play well. They deserved to win. You’re not going to win baseball games when you make errors,” said Erskine coach Lars Jonassen, whose team made six errors and give up three unearned runs.

Even with the mistakes, the Eagles were in the game. Down 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Sean Cabaniss and Shyler Scates hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. With one out, Plourde intentionally walked Tom Grady to load the bases.

After Lachance struck out Jory Humphrey for the second out, John Suga hit a single to left to tie the game. Grady was thrown out trying to reach third, sending the game to extra innings.

Lachance threw 126 pitches, giving up 10 hits, while walking three and striking out nine. He called his curveball his out pitch for the day.

“I think (Lachance) started to tire in the fifth and sixth innings. He looked like he was fatiguing a little bit, but in the seventh, the first two guys got on, then he showed what he’s made of,” Plourde said. “He was one pitch away from finishing in the seventh.”

If Lachance wants to thank his offense, he can start by patting himself on the back. Lachance hit the second pitch of the game, a high fastball, over the left field fence for a home run, staking the Rams to a 1-0 lead.

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“I was looking to attack early. I wasn’t really looking to hit a home run, but I got under it a little and the wind carried it,” said Lachance, who added an RBI single in the fourth.

Chandler Shostak reached on a fielder’s choice and scored on an error to give Cony a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Chase Shostak led off the fourth with a walk and scored on Lachance’s hit to push the Rams lead to 3-0.

Brendan Wood’s grounder to shortstop scored Suga with Erskine’s first run in the bottom of the fourth. Chandler Shostak scored an unearned run in the fifth for Cony, and Scates hit a home run in the bottom of the inning to make a 4-2 game.

Scates threw five innings in relief of Grady, striking out five and allowing two unearned runs on one hit. Josh Bailey and Grady each had two singles for the Eagles.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

CHECKED BY DAVE @ 7:59 pm


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