Westbrook pitcher Derek Bouchard’s arm was sore after Saturday’s 9- and 10-year-old District 6 playoff game against Deering.
If his team had been able to muster two or three runs, maybe Bouchard would’ve been able to block out the subtle pain. But, having just hurled his first-ever complete game – a six-inning, six-hit masterpiece – and come out on the losing end, Bouchard did admit that, yes, his arm was a little sore.
The pain of losing, 2-0, stung even more, though.
“I don’t know what happened,” said Bouchard. “We just didn’t hit the ball good today.”
They hit the ball, just not into the holes.
“They put it in play a lot and we made the plays,” said Deering coach Scott Dutton. “A lot of times they were grounding out on the first and second pitch.”
Westbrook coach Dan McCarthy was puzzled.
“We’ve had great batting practices and some good swings, but for some reason this guy (Brad Carney) kept us off-balance,” said McCarthy, whose team had been working together two hours a day for two weeks prior to Saturday’s game.
Things looked promising for Westbrook when Bouchard, who relied almost exclusively on his two-seam fastball, worked his way out of a jam in the bottom of the first inning.
Deering’s first two batters, Zeb Tarasevich and Stephen Caiazzo reached base, creating a no-out, first-and-third situation. But Bouchard was up to the task. He struck out Ben Peterson swinging, then gunned down Tarasevich at the plate on a Carney comebacker. Bouchard got out of the inning with another strikeout.
Westbrook didn’t put together a similar threat until the top of the third when Morty Pena reached on a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. With No. 2 hitter Zach Bean at the plate, though, Pena was thrown out trying to steal third.
The missed opportunity loomed even larger after Deering scored its only two runs in the bottom of the third.
Again Tarasavich and Caiazzo reached to lead off the inning. And again Peterson went down swinging. It looked as if Bouchard would wiggle out of another tight spot when he got another strikeout. But Griffin Py walked to load the bases, and Will Hilton hit a towering fly ball to right field.
The ball dropped between second baseman Collin Joyce and right fielder Chandler Todd, and Tarasevich and Caiazzo came around to score.
“When a big guy like Will Hilton hits one that high those are tough for guys,” said Dutton. “They don’t often see them that high up there.”
There was still time left, though, and Westbrook was able to put together one more rally. In the top of the fourth, Bouchard walked after Bean popped out to third. Joyce grounded out to the pitcher for the second out, but Kaleb Kent followed with a bloop single to put runners at first and third.
Unfortunately, Kyle Schumacher’s hard grounder to first base was gobbled up for the final out of the inning. Westbrook had one more base runner – Kyle Heath – in the top of sixth, but Carney closed the game with three straight strikeouts.
When asked if Westbrook could turn things around, Bouchard said, “I hope so.”
With the pitching already where it needs to be, there isn’t much that Bouchard needs to hope for.
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