BOWDOINHAM – The Topsham Post 202 Senior American Legion baseball team wrapped up its season on Saturday at Bowdoinham Recreation Field much like the season went.
Field Allen Post 148 of Windham came to town and scored two runs in the sixth inning for a 5-4 victory in a game that featured three lead changes. It was another among the close setbacks that kept Topsham Post 202 from securing one of the four playoff spots in the south.
“We only had a few games where we really got beat good. Even these guys walked us off twice in a doubleheader, 2-1, 6-5, and the boys just battled,” said Topsham Post 202 coach AJ Booty, whose squad finished 8-10. “Oxford (Bessey Motors) was the only team that really beat us up, and we even had a close game with them.”
Trailing 4-3 in the sixth, Windham finally knocked Topsham starter Trey Booty out of the game. The right-hander walked Ryan Sargent and Chris Naylor with one out, and designated hitter Bob Wing plated both runners with a two-run double to the gap in left-center field.
Trey Booty pitched well, going 5 1/3 innings on five runs (four earned), six hits, seven strikeouts and the two sixth-inning walks.
Beating the heat
The game was originally scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. But with temperatures expected to make a run at 100 degrees Saturday afternoon, the contest was moved up to 10 a.m.
Still, the heat and humidity had the teams downing lots of water to stay hydrated.
“It was tough today, and that is why we wanted to start at 10,” said AJ Booty.
The heat didn’t seem to bother the players. Naylor, Windham’s starting pitcher, was solid during his three innings on the mound, permitting only an unearned run in the third when Coenradt Taylor doubled and later scored on a passed ball.
On the other side, Trey Booty retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced, with only Naylor reaching on a second-inning single. The Topsham hurler struck out four through three scoreless frames.
However, Windham put up three runs in the fourth, all coming home on a long three-run home run by Sargent that managed to stay just inside the right-field foul pole before landing deep in the woods for a 3-1 lead.
Topsham seemed unfazed as the hosts answered with two runs in the bottom of the frame on a two-run double by Sam Masse, scoring Nick Merrill and Trey Booty off of Windham lefty reliever Ben Childs.
“It was a battle the whole season, a roller coaster for sure, and we played most of these teams pretty tough,” said Masse, who discussed the heat. “We were able to deal with the heat. There is not much that you can do about it.”
In the fifth, Topsham Post 202 gained a 4-3 lead. Scout Masse singled with one out then proceeded to advance the final 270 feet on three wild pitches.
But Windham managed to put up the tying and winning runs in the sixth, with Childs tossing a 1-2-3 seventh to close it out. Childs earned the mound win with four innings of relief on four hits, two strikeouts and one walk.
Topsham relief pitcher Cam Daly went 1 2/3 frames on one walk and one strikeout.
Windham finished 12-6 to claim the No. 2 spot in the south. The Eagles will face the north’s No. 3 team in the opening round of the American Legion playoffs on Saturday.
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