FARMINGDALE — Bobby Cumler wasn’t quite as sharp Wednesday as he was the first time he faced Wiscasset this season. But the Hall-Dale freshman was good enough.
The left-hander settled down after a shaky first inning and held the Wolverines to five singles en route to a 7-2 win in a Western Maine Class C quarterfinal game.
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Fourth-seeded Hall-Dale (13-4) plays in the semifinals Saturday while fifth-seeded Wiscasset finishes at 9-8.
Cumler pitched a five-inning no-hitter against Wiscasset three weeks ago and hadn’t quite put that behind him in the early going Wednesday.
“I think that might have been one of the things I felt a little too confident (about) going into the game,” Cumler said. “Then I realized I needed to focus my mind on the game.”
Cumler walked two of the first three batters he faced and also committed a balk, but he got the final two outs to escape the inning unscathed. He went the distance, giving up a pair of runs in the third inning while walking four and striking out six.
“Early he struggled with his fastball,” Hall-Dale coach Tim Johnson said. “Somewhere in the second (inning) he started using his off-speed stuff and it got him through. Then he settled down, changed speeds the rest of the game and he had them off balance.”
The Bulldogs scored four runs in the first inning off hard-throwing senior Jason Weatherbee, who had control problems of his own. Ben Crocker opened the bottom of the first with a single and Matt Plourde followed with a ground ball to Weatherbee who threw high to second in an attempt to force Crocker. Zac Plummer walked and Brad Shepherd drove in the first run with a groundout to short. Colin Lush followed with a seeing-eye single between first and second that scored Plourde and Shepherd.
“I’ve been having trouble hitting all season,” Lush said. “(Coach Johnson) actually told me awhile back to try and hit it opposite field. I tried that today and I guess it worked out.”
Nat Crocker singled in the fourth run and an inning later, Lush put another ball through the right side to make it 5-0. Ben Crocker’s second hit of the game made it 5-2 in the third and Shepherd capped the scoring with an RBI double to left in the sixth.
Weatherbee allowed seven hits, walked six and fanned seven. Each team committed an error.
“We’re focusing on defense a lot,” Lush said. “We take pride in our ability to not give errors, to not make stupid mistakes.”
Gary Hawkins — 621-5638
ghawkins@centralmaine.com
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