WINSLOW — Over the first half of the season, the Winslow High School baseball team was the Murderer’s Row of the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference’s Class B division. The Black Raiders averaged more than 10 runs per game over the first seven games, but in recent weeks, runs have been tougher to come by.
In Thursday afternoon’s Eastern B quarterfinal against No. 7 Washington Academy, the Black Raiders were closer to the wall bangers that started the season. Winslow pounded out 12 hits and, combined with an excellent pitching effort from Logan Hewes and strong defense, earned a 7-0 win.
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No. 2 Winslow (14-3) will host No. 3 Foxcroft Academy (15-2) on Saturday. Washington ends the season at 11-7.
Winslow scored three runs on five hits in the first inning. Zach Guptill drove in a pair of runs with a double to left and Alex Berard hit an RBI single.
“We came out swinging, definitely. The hits came when we needed them, with men on base,” Guptill said.
The Black Raiders added another run off Washington starter Andrew Hall in the fourth inning. Guptill led off with a single, took second on Hewes’ sacrifice bunt and went to third on a fly out to center by Ryan Dubois. Guptill scored on a passed ball.
“It was nice to see, right from the get-go, we didn’t get fooled by (Hall). He’s definitely a good pitcher, but we sat back well. We hit a lot of balls the other way,” Winslow coach Jesse LaCasse said. “It’s what I’ve preached all year and obviously today is a day when I hope they listened, and it all comes together.”
With a lead, Hewes was dominant. The senior didn’t reach a three-ball count until the sixth inning and scattered five hits. Washington had just one baserunner reach third base, Fred MacLean in the fourth inning.
“He threw strikes. They actually kept us off balance. Not a lot of speed, but he threw strikes, stayed ahead in the count and used the plate incredibly well,” Washington coach Derek Feeney said.
Hewes earned 10 groundball outs and struck out just one with one walk and benefited from sharp defense.
“I was working the fastball well and the curveball was working well in combination with the fastball,” Hewes said.
Added LaCasse: “The nice thing about Logan, the kid is fired up to be on the mound. He gets the team fired up, and he goes out there, he gets ground balls, the defense gets plenty of action, and the kid’s a gamer. He’s always a gamer for us.”
The Black Raiders added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Pinch hitter Chase Collford doubled to score Dubois, then scored on Taylor Roy’s single. Roy scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-0.
Freshman Jacob Trask pitched the seventh inning for Winslow to preserve the shutout.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
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