Freeport’s sleepy start against visiting Falmouth cost them on Friday afternoon. The Falcons gave up a damaging, three-run top-of-the-first to the Yachtsmen before settling down on both offense and defense. After that, Jack Davenport’s strong pitching, a consistent on-base presence and some flashy work in the field nevertheless proved insufficient to swing the momentum in Freeport’s favor, and Falmouth ultimately took the W, 5-2.

“For whatever reason, it took us an inning to get worked up,” said Freeport head coach Bill Ridge. “We had a really bad pre-game infield; the guys mentally weren’t ready. Then we went out in that first inning and we continued to not be on top of it.

“It was like a boxer. It took him getting knocked down to get back up and realize, ‘I’ve got to fight now.’”

The loss drops Freeport to 1-2 on the year; the team opened their season with a 6-1 win over Wells before falling 7-3 vs. Yarmouth. Falmouth ratchets forward to 2-1 with the victory. The Yachtsmen began their schedule with a defeat of York before suffering a defeat at the hands of Cape.

First up for Falmouth on Friday, Connor MacDowell grounded out 5-3. Colin Coyne followed him to the plate, however, and promptly drove a single into left. Davenport knicked Yachtsman Connor Aube, giving him first and pushing Coyne ahead to second, and Robbie Armitage brought Coyne home again on a deep double to left. 1-0.

Tyler Gee then knocked a grounder directly to Falcons first baseman Caleb Rice. Rice tried for the fielder’s choice throw home to save Aube from crossing, but his bullet to Falcons catcher Caiden Shea arrived just a moment too late, and Falmouth inched further ahead, 2-0.

Armitage reached home on the last out of the ups, when Caleb Lydick flew out to centerfield; Armitage had just enough time after the catch, and after tagging up, to race the 90 feet from third for 3-0.

“In the field we had that first inning and it was more mental error than physical error,” said Ridge. “We sort of misplayed a fly ball, our first baseman threw home on a play that we could’ve got an out…we could’ve limited the damage. We let them get more than they probably should’ve.”

Freeport went one-two-three in the bottom of the first, but again, they finally settled down in the second, allowing them to also nab three straight outs on three straight Falmouth batters during the Yachtsmen’s next at-bats.

In the top of the third, however, Coyne belted another ball toward left; he might never have reached first, but Freeport third baseman Nate Cyr’s throw across the infield flew just wild enough for Coyne to get all the way to second.

He arrived home when Aube slipped a grounder down the left-field line that skittered just beyond Cyr’s grasp. Cyr, possibly frustrated with his error and the near-miss, turned a beautiful play at his next opportunity: He snagged a powerful Armitage drive clean out of the air, then hurled the ball to fellow Falcon Max Doughty at second to also tag out Aube, who’d started to run for third at the crack of the bat.

Freeport finally got on the board in the bottom of the third. Rice reached base after shunting a ball toward Yachtsmen shortstop Armitage; Armitage threw wild to first and Rice landed safely on the bag. He stole second during Doughty’s at-bat, then crossed home when Doughty clubbed a double to wide left.

“That’s as good a pitcher as we’ll see,” said Ridge of Falmouth starter Cam Guarino. “And we had a baserunner, I think, five of the seven innings. So we were getting on against him, we were challenging him.”

Falmouth got the run back in the top of the fourth for 5-1, but Freeport responded in the fifth to keep the deficit at three. Doughty reached first after a second wild throw by Armitage, then stole second and rounded to home when Davenport launched a double to deep centerfield.

“His off-speed stuff is very good,” said Ridge of Guarino. “It was pretty clear it was going to be a first-pitch fastball, besides to certain guys – Davenport was getting off-speed first pitch. Other than that, a lot of guys were expecting a first-pitch fastball, and we weren’t doing a good job of jumping on that first pitch.

“We were letting him get into a groove, and once you’re down in the count to a kid like that, he’s really tough to hit against. I think we worked two walks, maybe, one of which was from an 0-2 count. But you get down to a kid like that, and it’s really tough; his off-speed stuff’s just too good.”

But keeping the deficit at three would certainly not suffice, and the Yachtsmen managed to hold on, despite Davenport’s continued solid pitching, a consistent trickle of Falcons onto first and more nice Freeport fielding – including another brilliant catch by Cyr on a line drive in the top of the seventh. 5-2 the final.

Ridge had praise for Davenport on the mound. “[He] gives us a chance every time out. He pounds the zone, he throws a lot of strikes. That keeps us in every game that he pitches. And he’s got good-enough stuff that it’s tough for other teams to really get on him.”

Freeport hosts York on Monday, May 4, and travels to Cape on Wednesday the 6th. Falmouth, meanwhile, visits Fryeburg on Monday and hosts Gray-New Gloucester on Wednesday.

The Falcons looked sharper and sharper as last year progressed, and challenged some top teams. This year, they aim to improve still further. “I feel very comfortable with where I think we can get this year,” said Ridge. “Talent-wise and what we expect of ourselves – it’s higher than it ever was. But I think there’s a lot of work that needs to happen before we get there; we’re not where we need to be.”

Freeport starting pitcher Jack Davenport releases a throw during the Falcons’ matchup on Friday with visiting Falmouth.Freeporter Caleb Rice mans first while Falmouth’s Reece Armitage leads toward second.Falcons centerfielder Pete Lamagna makes a determined running grab while rightfielder Bennett Hight rushes in to back him up.Freeport catcher Caiden Shea awaits the throw at home while Yachtsman Colin Coyne descends into his slide.Max Doughty rounds third for the Falcons in their 5-2 loss to visiting Falmouth on Friday.The throw to Freeport shortstop Ben Humphrey – an attempt to catch Falmouth runner Tyler Gee – bounces up off the ground and out of Humphrey’s easy reach.

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