Brunswick — Brunswick scored two times in the bottom of the first and that proved to be all it needed as it took down Cony 5-1 in Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference baseball action Saturday.
The win is the first this season for the Dragons and first-year coach Craig Rogers.
“It was great to finally get that first win,” said catcher Scout Masse. “We have had some tough games to start the season and it feels good to come away with a win today.”
The Dragons (1-3) were led by Inchino Honda, who pitched seven innings, scattering nine hits and striking out three, while keeping the Cony hitters off balance all game.
“He’s been a great addition to our team this season,” said Rogers of the foreign-exchange student from Japan. “He’s a versatile player that will do anything you ask of him, all with a great attitude.”
The Cony (0-3) hitters found out early on how frustrating Honda was going to be. The righty changed up his speeds from the get-go, striking out Riley Geyer on a nasty offspeed pitch to start the game before getting a flyout to right for two quick outs. After a single and walk, Honda settled down and got Michael Boivin to hit a comebacker to the mound to end the inning.
Coming off an 11-1 loss against Edward Little on Friday, the Dragons immediately took the bat off their shoulders, getting two quick singles off Cony starter Dakota Andow to start the frame for the first score.
Honda led the inning off with a hit and stole second before Zack Grant ripped a single plating Honda. Masse followed with a fielder’s choice and stole second before Sam Sharpe singled home Grant for a 2-0 lead.
“I’m hoping with the way we swung the bats in the win today, the kids will start believing in themselves and that they can win some ball games,” said Rogers.
“Our guys came out swinging. Hats off to their pitcher for mixing it up with our hitters,” said Cony coach Don Plourde. “We have to be able to string a few hits together to push across some runs.”
The Rams’ biggest threat came in the fourth innings. A one out infield single by Bobby Stolt followed by an Ashton Cunningham two-bagger put runners on second and third with only one out. Geyer then hit a grounder to third base, Sharpe fired home to Masse and the catcher applied the tag on Stolt before he reached the plate for the second out of the inning. A flyout a batter later stranded two Cony runners on base, still trailing 2-0.
After striking out two batters in the sixth inning, Honda came out in the seventh for an attempt at the shutout.
He recorded the first two-outs before the Cony bats finally got some good contact on his pitches.
Four straight singles by Mike Levesque, Tyler Dostie, Boivin and Mitchell MacFarland plated one run and brought the tying run to the plate.
After a brief visit from Rogers, he kept his starter in the game. A couple of pitches later, Honda got Andow to pop out to end the game, leaving the bases loaded.
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