Things looked good for the South Portland American senior baseball all-stars in the top of the second inning against Suburban Tuesday night.
All SPA needed was one win, and they would be crowned District 6 champion. In the second inning, South Portland appeared to be on its way to earning that one win.
Suburban starter John Summa was having a hard time finding the plate – he walked three straight to start the inning – and SPA was starting to capitalize.
Chris Verrill had an RBI sacrifice fly to score Josh Grant, and Pat Farrell scored on an errant throw to second by catcher Adam Norton.
Then Suburban’s Brandon Gallagher came into the game and ruined everything.
Gallagher induced a double-play to get out of the inning and allowed just one more run the rest of the way as Suburban rallied to win, 5-3, and force another game.
The teams were scheduled to play a winner-take-all game Wednesday night after press time.
“We could play them 100 times, and we’d both win 50 games,” said South Portland coach Bob Biskop. “That’s how close we are.”
Still, though, Biskop felt good about his team’s chances – even just moments after losing.
“Not taking anything away from Cumberland, but we had a couple of really tough breaks,” he said. “We hit into four double plays.”
The first of those DPs ended the threat in the top of the second. The next ended another threat in the top of the third.
Gallagher walked the first two batters of the inning, DJ St. Cyr and Tyler Kelly. St. Cyr was erased by Norton trying to steal while Kelly was at the plate. The next batter, Corey Schwartz, lined into a double play to end the inning.
“He came in and got some big outs for us,” said Suburban coach Jeff Seymour. “Gallagher closed it out and did an excellent job.”
And as a result, the door was left slightly ajar for the Suburban offense, which eventually got on the board in the bottom of the third inning.
Norton led off with a walk and advanced to second on a stolen base. George Burkett followed with another walk and was lifted for pinch runner Ryan Williams.
Norton came around to score on a single to right by Brian Andrews, and Williams tied the game when he came around on a single by Nate McCray.
Suburban struck for two more runs in the bottom of the fifth, as a bloop single to left scored both Burkett and Shawn Sanville.
“We knew our backs were against the wall. We had to win, and everyone knew it,” said Seymour.
With their backs against the wall, the South Portland nine rallied for a run in the top of the sixth – on an RBI single by Grant – and threatened again in the top of the seventh after Suburban had added an insurance run.
South Portland got a break in the seventh when, with one out, Chris Biskop reached after striking out. The third strike was dropped by Norton, then thrown into right field. St. Cyr followed with a double that put runners at second and third.
Gallagher did it again, though. He induced another double play – a lineout to short – to end the game.
“They’re a good team,” said Biskop, “and we expect another good game tomorrow.”
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