Gelinas powers Fayette-Staples past Massabesic

WATERBORO — Fayette-Staples got off to about as good a start as you can have in baseball.

After Steve Harmon led off with a double, and the next two batters walked, Jeff Gelinas drilled a grand slam over the fence in left field, giving Fayette-Staples a 4-0 lead after four batters. It went on to a 9-4 win over Massabesic in an American Legion baseball game at Waterboro Thursday night.

“It was a fastball over the plate, and I just turned on it,” Gelinas said.

As far as if it was the farthest home run he’s ever hit, he said, “I’ve had a couple I’ve hit foul that far, but that’s the first one that actually counted that far.”

Gelinas’ first-inning slam gave some early breathing room for Fayette-Staples’ starting pitcher, which was Gelinas. He pitched effectively into the seventh inning, giving up four runs, two earned, on two hits and five walks. He struck out seven and also hit two batters.

Hunter Duncan was on the wrong end of Gelinas’ blast, and put himself in a hole early. After the home run, however, he set down 10 of 11 batters, including nine in a row until an Evan Wright single in the fourth

inning. Duncan gave up an unearned run in the fourth, and gave up three more runs in the fifth. For his outing, he gave up eight runs on eight hits, with five strikeouts and three walks.

“A lot of times he’s a kind of a slow starter. It takes him a couple innings to really get warmed up, and to really find his spot,” Massabesic coach Jeff Cessario said about Duncan’s rough start to his outing. “If we”re good or have a lead after those three innings, he’s unhittable.”

Massabesic finally got to Gelinas in the bottom of the third, albeit without getting a hit. Shawn McCarthy led off with a walk, and moved to second two batters later when Duncan was hit by a pitch. McCarthy then

stole third before Jake Pelchat popped out to short. Then with Brian Wordwell batting, things got a little weird as Massabesic attempted a double steal. Duncan got himself caught in a pickle, allowing McCarthy to score before Duncan was finally tagged out. It wasn’t conventional, but it worked for Massabesic.

“We have to scrap. That’s our motto all year is just to find ways to score runs,” Cessario said about his team manufacturing runs.

Fayette-Staples put the game away for good in the fifth inning. After Drew Lavigne struck out looking to lead off the inning, Fayette-Staples had four straight hits and a Wright sacrifice grounder to score three runs.

Massabesic got out of the inning when Brandon Coulombe made a diving catch in left field. It was a nice play to see after Coulombe collided with McCarthy earlier in the inning, hitting his head off McCarthy’s knee. Massabesic scored two runs in the bottom of the inning thanks to a Cody Frazier RBI single and a sacrifice fly by Duncan.

Both teams scored single runs in the seventh. Josh Coffin had an RBI double for Fayette-Staples in the top of the inning, and Pelchat hit a sacrifice grounder with the bases loaded as Massabesic tried to rally.

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