WESTBROOK – The Westbrook High School baseball team will be starting next week’s Class A West playoffs with a high seed, just not as high as they hoped.
The Blazes finished off the regular season on a down note, losing a tough game 6-2 to Cheverus in eight innings at Westbrook on Tuesday afternoon. The loss drops the Blazes’ record to 14-2, the same mark as the Stags. By virtue of the Stags’ win over Westbrook, Cheverus vaults into the top spot in the latest Heal Point standings, with Westbrook dropping to No. 2.
Deering (13-3) holds down the No. 3 seed, Scarborough (11-5) is at No. 4, South Portland (11-5) sits at No. 5, Biddeford (10-6) is No. 6, Marshwood (11-5) is at No. 7 and Thornton Academy (10-6) holds down the final playoff berth at No. 8.
But the regular season finale could be painful for the Blazes in more ways than one. In addition to losing the game, Westbrook also has to face the possibility that it may have lost top pitcher Scott Heath to an injury.
Heath started the game on the mound for Westbrook, but he was forced from the game in the top of the second inning with what was deemed an elbow injury. Heath did remain in the game, playing right field.
After the game, Westbrook Head Coach Mike Rutherford said he wasn’t sure if Heath’s injury was a serious one. “His elbow’s sore and that’s not a good thing, but we’re going to ice it and see what happens,” Rutherford said, adding praise for Sean Murphy who stepped up and finished the game on the mound for Westbrook. “I though Sean Murphy came in and pitched six great innings.”
The game was a tight one throughout as hits and runs were scarce through the first seven innings. Westbrook drew first blood in the contest, getting to Stags’ starter Harry Ridge for a run in the first.
Joe Quinlan led things off with a single and moved over to second on a sacrifice from Kyle Heath, eventually coming around to score on a wild pitch to make it 1-0.
Cheverus tied things right back up in the top of the second, getting a run from Joey Royer on a sacrifice fly from Peter Gwilym to make it 1-1.
That was it for scoring until late in the game as both defenses settled down to keep runners off the basepaths. Westbrook catcher Kyle Heath made an outstanding defensive play in the top of the fourth that saved a potential run. With runners on first and second, the Stags’ Tyler Flaherty popped up a bunt. Heath scrambled out from behind the plate and made a diving catch on the weak pop-up, holding up the ball to show the umpire before gunning it down to second to erase Nick Melville to complete the double play.
Cheverus took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth as Peter Potthoff stroked an RBI single to score Gwilym and Westbrook was facing a rare deficit.
The Blazes tied things up in the bottom of the seventh as Murphy led off with a walk off reliever Mitchell Powers. After Zach Gardiner struck out, Sam Stauble reached on an error and Jake Gardiner hit a sharp RBI single up the middle that allowed Murphy to score from second and the game went into extra innings tied at two.
The wheels came off for the Blazes in the top of the eighth as the Stags got to Murphy for four runs, with Cheverus benefiting from a Blazes’ fielding miscue and getting a big blow from Spencer Cooke, who smacked a two-run double to make it 6-2.
As could be expected, Rutherford was frustrated after the loss. “We battled back,” he said. “The seventh inning, we made a couple of mistakes in the field. But the Ridge kid kept us down and (you have to) give credit to the freshman Powers, who came in (and got the save). We had a chance to win it in the bottom half (of the seventh) and didn’t get it done. Our top guys aren’t getting it done, and if they don’t get it done, we don’t win. But I give Murphy credit, he came in and kept it close, kept us 2-1, and we scrapped back and we tied it up. He pitched a heck of a ballgame I thought.”
If Westbrook wants to make a deep playoff run, Rutherford said the offense will have to step up its production. “We can’t score two runs in eight innings,” he said. “If they don’t get it done, we’ll have an early summer.”
The Blazes will be hosting No. 7 Marshwood in its first playoff game, a quarterfinal game currently slated for June 9 at a time to be determined. The Blazes will have a rematch with the Stags for the SMAA championship on Saturday at the Ballpark in Old Orchard Beach at 1 p.m.
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