STANDISH — If baseball ever decides to go the route of having a team start every inning with two outs, Lisbon High School will gladly vote in favor of the change.
The top-seeded Greyhounds exploded for a two-out, seven-run rally that broke a tie at Mahaney Diamond, powering their way to a 12-5 win over Monmouth Academy in the Class C South championship game Wednesday night on the campus of St. Joseph’s College. It was the first-ever regional title for Lisbon (15-4), which will face Orono in the state championship game Saturday afternoon at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor.
“We hit better with two outs. I wish you could start an inning with two outs, to be honest,” said senior infielder Ryley Austin, who touched off the rally proper with a two-run single. “I couldn’t tell you why we can’t hit without two outs, but once people get on base it just puts something in us where we’ve got to bring them home or we let the team down.”
No. 6 Monmouth (11-8) rallied back from a three-run deficit with a three-spot in the top of the sixth, highlighted by senior Hunter Richardson’s two-run triple to the power alley in left-center field. For Lisbon, it brought back painful memories of a year ago, when the Greyhounds watched Sacopee Valley come back for a win in the seventh inning in this very round of the tournament.
Lisbon coach Randy Ridley said he never worried about his team’s mindset after surrendering the lead.
“I was actually was not worried,” Ridley said. “I was worried about my sanity, because I was thinking about last year. But this team here is just solid. They do not let things like that bother them too much… These guys wanted to get back here (to the regional championship game), they got here, and they did the job.”
Monmouth senior reliever Avery Amero started the sixth with two quick outs to the left side of the infield, but the next nine consecutive Lisbon batters reached base. Austin (2 for 4, 3 RBIs) started things with a two-run double for the Greyhounds (15-4), while Sean Scott added a two-run single of his own in the frame.
Monmouth’s defense didn’t do much to help starter Hunter Richardson, who allowed only two earned runs over five innings. But the Mustangs committed a total of six errors leading to 10 unearned runs in all for the Greyhounds, including one by second baseman Mat Foulke at second base that would have ended the Lisbon threat without any damage in the sixth.
Instead of Monmouth having a chance to win in the seventh, nine consecutive Lisbon batters reached base — six of them after Foulke’s miscue. Scott added a two-run single in the onslaught, and Cole Bolduc and Noah Francis also added RBI base hits.
“We couldn’t get that third out,” Monmouth coach Eric Palleschi said. “We just couldn’t make the plays. I can’t say you can’t win with five errors — neither team played a clean game — but they took advantage of the errors more than we did.
“They got that big inning and we didn’t. That’s what it came down to.”
Credit Lisbon, however, for capitalizing when the door was opened. While the Greyhounds committed five errors of their own, Monmouth came up empty in the first and second innings — leaving a total of five runners on base in the two frames — and were held scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings, as well.
Unlike the Mustangs, Lisbon scored two runs in the first with two outs. Catcher Nick Lerette went 3 for 3, including RBI singles in both the first and fifth innings.
“With two outs, I don’t know what it is,” Ridley said. “They just really focus, and they do a good job with two strikes, too. We battle every time up.”
Greyhound infielders made some phenomenal plays. Starting pitcher Tyler Halls snared a bunt off the bat of Foulke that he turned into a double play at first in the fourth, and in the fifth, the shortstop Austin made a great diving catching of a sinking line drive into shallow left field for an out.
Travis Hartford went 2 for 4 with a triple and an RBI for Monmouth in the loss. Foulke was 2 for 3 out of the nine-spot in the order with an RBI.
“We knew we were right in the game,” Palleschi said. “We just couldn’t get the hits when we needed to. … That’s just how it goes. It’s high school baseball.”
Travis Barrett — 621-5621
tbarrett@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @TBarrettGWC
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.