It wasn’t the time or place to mope about and feel sorry. Libby-Mitchell needed someone to step up.

Kevin Moskevich rose to the occasion, twirling a three-hitter while going 4 for 4 at the plate with four RBI to lead his team to an 11-1 win in six innings, salvaging a doubleheader split with Morrill Post in American Legion baseball action at St. Joseph’s College in Standish on Friday night.

Morrill Post’s Evan Indorf hit a three-run homerun in the top of the seventh in the first game to down Libby-Mitchell 4-3.

“I thought right after that first game there was a little bit of pouting going on, some people feeling sorry for themselves,” said Libby-Mitchell coach Will Sanborn. “Ideally, we want to be the type of team that can bounce back from a tough inning or a tough loss, and they did. It’s good to see.”

The games wrapped up the regular season for both teams. Libby-Mitchell, with players from Bonny Eagle and Scarborough high schools, finished 14-4 and in third place in the Zone 4 standings while Morrill Post (South Portland and Cape Elizabeth, 13-5) finished fourth.

The top four teams qualified for the Zone 4 tournament. Nova Seafood (Deering, 15-3) secured the top spot. Stockhouse (Westbrook, 14-4) edged Libby-Mitchell (14-4) for the No. 2 spot through a statistical tiebreaker.

Advertisement

Stockhouse and Libby-Mitchell were scheduled to play a nine-inning semifinal game on Tuesday at Westbrook, but the game was rained out and moved to Wednesday (after this edition’s deadline).

The two semifinal winners are slated to play at the home field of the higher seed on Thursday for the Zone championship. The Zone 4 winner gets an automatic berth in the state tournament, while the runner-up (based on season record) goes to a play-in game Saturday in Augusta.

Libby-Mitchell was pleased to enter the tournament on a high note.

“We just had to go out and put the first game behind us,” Moskevich said. “It was a tough loss, but we had to look to the future. It’s good that we picked up a win there. It’s good momentum going into the playoffs.”

In the second game, Libby-Mitchell scored three runs in each of the first, third and fifth innings, then tacked on two in the sixth to invoke the 10-run mercy rule. Moskevich didn’t allow a run until the sixth and scattered three hits. Each of his four singles knocked in a run, including the one to end the game, scoring Jimmy Rouse.

“That’s good to see from him,” Sanborn said. “He’d been struggling a little bit on the mound. That’s the way he can pitch and we’ll need that going into the tournament.”

Advertisement

Chris Bernard had three doubles and scored four times for Libby-Mitchell in the second game. Rouse scored three runs. Andrew Guay tripled to lead off the sixth for Morrill Post and scored on a wild pitch.

In game one, Libby-Mitchell pitcher Ben Wessel cruised along until the seventh inning. After allowing the first two batters of the game to reach on singles, he allowed only two singles through the end of the sixth. He gave Libby-Mitchell a 1-0 lead in the second when he led off with a solo home run over the left field fence. It was 2-0 in the third after Lincoln Sanborn tripled and scored on a delayed double steal.

That score stood until the seventh. Wessel walked Will Pierce to lead off. After a groundout, Mike Dicenso reached on an infield hit. Brendan Horton followed with an RBI single that chased Wessel from the game.

Sanborn came on in relief and Indorf sent his first offering out of the park for a three-run homer, making it 4-2 in favor of Morrill Post. Indorf was mobbed by his teammates as he crossed the plate.

Libby-Mitchell got one run back in the bottom of the seventh as Adam Morin reached on an error and scored on Rouse’s single, but Chris Gorham got out of a bases-loaded jam with a strikeout to end the game. Gorham pitched the first four innings and the seventh for Morrill Post. Andrew Richards pitched two scoreless innings in the fifth and sixth.