READFIELD — Spencer Miranda didn’t allow himself to get swept away by the moment — or Monday’s gale force winds.

Caught in a quick 0-2 hole with two out and the potential winning run at second, Winslow’s junior second baseman altered his approach and went with Jason Brooks’ breaking ball, finding the hole the other way to drive in Tyler Camire and ultimately give the Black Raiders a 4-3 win over Maranacook.

“It was a curve ball,” Miranda said. “He was trying to go to the outside corner. He hung it out over the middle a little bit and I was able to put a good swing on it and get it through the hole.”

“We need this win to help us get a top seed and maybe a bye in the playoffs,” he added.

Trailing 3-2 with Brooks on in relief to close it out for starter Chris Florek, Luke Fredette got the Black Raiders (9-1) rally going with a leadoff walk, then stole second. After a strikeout, Camire tied it with an opposite field double to right.

Another strikeout brought Miranda, the Black Raiders’ No. 9 hitter who was 0-for-2 with a walk, to the plate to erase what had been a frustrating day for Winslow batters to that point with 11 men left on base.

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“The last few games, we’ve definitely been having some difficulty with men on base,” Winslow coach Aaron Wolfe said. “We’ve been telling the team we’ve got to get these guys in when you’ve got the opportunity. You never know, that might be the only chance you get. So it was great to see that late in the game.”

“It’s hard to overcome (leadoff walks) against good teams,” Maranacook coach Eric Brown said. “They’re a good team. They put the bat on the ball and made it happen.”

Maranacook (6-5) put the tying run in scoring position in the bottom of the seventh when Mark Buzzell reached on a one-out single and was awarded second base when obstruction was called on Winslow’s first baseman as he tried to field the throw. But starter Jacob Trask (six hits, two earned runs, 10 strikeouts, two walks, one hit batter) buckled down and got a strikeout and fly ball to right to end it.

Miranda was at the center of a big play earlier in the game that factored in the Black Bears taking the lead. With a runner on first and none out, Buzzell hit a grounder up the middle that Miranda ran down at the second base bag for what appeared to be a tailor-made double play. But he had trouble getting control of the ball as his feet searched for the bag and Vinnie Birtwell was ruled safe at second. Winslow had to settle for the out at first base on the play.

“(The umpire) said as I was gaining control of the ball my foot came off the bag, so I did not have possession of the ball when my foot was on the bag,” Miranda said.

After Max McQuillen reached on an infield single, Brooks drove Birtwell home with a single to make it 2-1. Connor Ireland then legged out the back end of another potential double play at first to score McQuillen.

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Florek (six innings, nine hits, one earned run, eight strikeouts, three walks) left the bases loaded after allowing an RBI single by Ben Smith in the second, then wiggled his way out of another bases loaded jam without giving up a run in the fourth. The run Winslow scored in the sixth to pull within 3-2 was unearned.

“He’s been solid for us all year,” Brown said of Florek. “We lost a couple of pitchers due to injury and he’s stepped into that No. 1 role for us and it’s made a big difference.”

The Black Bears (six left on base) put at least one baserunner on in each inning except the sixth against Trask, but Winslow’s ace was able to prevent or minimize the damage. He even had a little luck in the first inning when, with two out and Buzzell at third, Connor Ireland hit a sharp grounder back to the mound that Trask reflexively kicked with the back of his foot directly to shortstop Ryan Gagnon, who was able to nab Ireland at first to end the inning.

Buzzell had three hits for Maranacook. Trask, Smith and Gagnon had two apiece for Winslow.

Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638

rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @RAWmaterial33


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