AUGUSTA — Gardiner’s American Legion team is counting on its defense in Zone 2 this season. Against Augusta on Tuesday, it showed why.
Gardiner turned two double plays early and center fielder Jonah Martin made a pair of key plays to help starting pitcher Hunter Chasse turn in one of the most efficient performances of the season in a 4-2 win.
Gardiner improved to 4-1 on the season while Augusta dropped to 3-2.
Chasse scattered seven hits, didn’t walk anyone and allowed one earned run while needing just 70 pitches to toss a complete game. Augusta’s aggressive lineup took him to a three-ball count just twice and he struck out one.
“I was throwing strikes, put the ball in play, trust the defense. They played well today,” Chasse said.
“I was hitting my spots today,” he added. “It wasn’t really any particular pitch. I was just hitting my spots well today. They have a good lineup over there. I know many of the kids. I’ve played with them. They all hit extremely well.”
Gardiner’s Hunter Richardson was the standout hitter on Tuesday, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and drove in three of the four runs.
Richardson also had a hand in the impressive defense, starting a 5-4-3 first-inning double play to erase Kolbe Merfeld’s leadoff single, then a 5-3 double play to help Chasse out of a second-inning jam that started with leadoff singles from Ryan Sinclair and Andrew Browne.
“I think that’s probably going to be the anchor for us all summer. We’re going to rely on our defense and see if we can keep ourselves in games and grab a few runs here and there,” Gardiner coach Russell Beckwith said.
Pitching for Augusta, Sinclair, who threw a no-hitter in his last outing, ran into trouble due to wildness in the third. He walked the bases loaded before uncorking a wild pitch with two out to score Adam Mooney with the game’s first run.
Sinclair tied it up in the fourth with a double that scored Cam Brochu. Augusta then tried to take the lead by sending Sinclair from second on Quinn Stebbins’ two-out single. But Martin made a strong throw that was a little high and up the third base line yet in plenty of time for Mooney to recover and tag out the runner to preserve the tie.
“They made the play,” said Augusta coach Tim Rodrigue, who waved Sinclair home. “I made them make the play and they did. With two outs, (sending the runner) was the right call.”
Richardson’s two-out flair single to right put Gardiner back in front in the fifth.
Stebbins, the right fielder, had to run in a long way to make a diving attempt at a ball that ended up landing just a couple of feet behind the infield dirt. Umpires ruled that he had trapped the ball. Both Jonah Martin and Dalton Therrien, who were off on contact with two outs, scored to put Gardiner up 3-1.
“That should have been out of the inning. Right fielder called the ball a little early and everyone kind of gave up on it once he called it,” Rodrigue said.
Gardiner added an insurance run in the seventh with Richardson’s two-out double to score Therrien.
The defense suffered a brief lapse in the bottom of the frame with a pair of errors that allowed Browne to score to make it 4-2 and get the tying run to the plate with one out. But Chasse got the last two batters to ground out and pop out to end it.
Sinclair and Browne had two hits apiece to lead Augusta.
Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638
rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com
Twitter: @RAWmaterial33
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