AUGUSTA — It was far from its cleanest game of the season, but the Cony baseball team is moving on in the Class B North playoffs.
The No. 1 Rams beat No. 9 Caribou 2-1 in a B North quarterfinal on Thursday at Morton Field. Tied 1-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning, sophomore third baseman Landen Perry drew a bases loaded walk off Caribou relief pitcher Bryce St. Pierre. The walk plated designated hitter Anderson Noyes for the walk-off win.
“A win is a win, no matter the outcome or how it came out,” said Cony starting pitcher Jordan Benedict. “We came out pretty slow, but we held onto (the game), we rallied in the seventh and came back for the win. That’s pretty exciting.”
“We’re moving on, and that’s the bottom line,” Cony coach Don Plourde said.
Down 1-0 entering the seventh, David Frye led off the inning with a base hit to left field for Cony (15-2) but was immediately caught in a pickle and tagged out after rounding too far off first base. The Rams managed to keep their composure, as leadoff hitter Parker Morin drew a walk, and Noyes followed with a bunt single. Cony loaded the bases when catcher Trent Hayward followed Noyes with a walk. Drew Lindquist was hit by a pitch to tie the game.
“I didn’t see one kid go, ‘Ugh, it’s over,'” Plourde said. “I’m just proud of the kids for just persevering and doing what they needed to do.”
Cony saved a brilliant effort by Benedict, who struck out 11 batters in six innings. He allowed just one hit and walked three batters.
“That’s the best game he’s pitched all year,” Plourde said. “He’s been like that all year. He’s been our best pitcher, first-team all-conference, and 0.76 (for an ERA).”
Junior Max Tibbetts earned the win for Cony, striking out the side in the seventh in his lone inning of work.
Starter Bryce Dillon struck out four batters and allowed four hits for Caribou (10-8). He walked three batters.
How did they get here?
• Perseverance. Defensively, the Rams committed five errors, including two errors in the fifth inning that led to the Vikings’ lone run. Nic Plourde led the inning off with a base hit, then reached third base when Cony made an error on the turn for a double-play attempt. With Plourde on third and St. Pierre on first, Benedict tried a pickoff attempt of St. Pierre at first, but threw the ball away, plating Plourde and giving Caribou the 1-o lead.
• The Rams managed to keep their heads up through the mistakes, however, gaining the momentum back in the seventh.
“We kept the energy up, the game wasn’t over,” Benedict said. “If we were all down, it wouldn’t have gone well. But we made sure everyone was still up and that the energy was still there.”
Kings of the road
• Caribou’s season ended on Thursday afternoon, but the Vikings traveled far to make their presence known.
Caribou traveled 436 miles roundtrip, 6 1/2 hours in total, to beat Mount Desert Island, 8-6, in its prelim game. On Thursday, Caribou traveled 496 miles, or 7 hours, to get to Morton Field and back.
“We’re used to traveling, we play multiple doubleheaders every week,” Caribou coach Josh Dillon said. “(The players) are like, ‘Oh, another trip on the bus? Let’s go.’
“I’m very proud (of the team), this is a veteran group that we have back. We have six seniors that start, and they’re used to these close games come playoff time. We got hit by the injury bug early this year. This was just the second game we had with everyone back.”
Statistical leaders
Cony: Jordan Benedict (11 Ks in 6 IP, 3 BB, 1 H), Max Tibbetts (1 IP, 3 Ks), Landen Perry (0 for 2, RBI), David Frye (2 for 3)
Caribou: Bryce Dillon (5 IP, 4 H, 4 Ks, 3 BB), Nic Plourde (1 for 3, R)
