BOX SCORE
Freeport 3 York 0
Bottom 4th
Abbott homered to left, Cockburn, Roy and Abbott scored.
Runs:
F- Abbott, Cockburn, Roy
RBI:
F- Abbott 3
Home run:
F- Abbott
Stolen bases:
F- von Glinsky-Gregoire, Wing
Left on base:
Y- 2
F- 2
Henriksen and Neal; Cockburn and von Glinsky-Gregoire
Y:
Henriksen (L) 6 IP 5 H 3 R 3 ER 0 BB 8 K
F:
Cockburn (W) 7 IP 2 H 0 R 0 BB 8 K
Time: 1:14
FREEPORT—In the blink of an eye, Freeport’s baseball team reminded everyone why it’s the reigning regional champion and why, until further notice, it’s going to be most difficult to dethrone.
Hosting No. 6 York in a Class B South quarterfinal round playoff game Friday afternoon, the third-ranked Falcons got an expected stellar pitching performance from senior ace Blaine Cockburn, but for three innings, they couldn’t do anything with Wildcats senior starter Hayden Henriksen.
Then came the fourth inning, when a hero who was anything but a surprise emerged with the game’s biggest hit.
With two on and one out, senior centerfielder Nathan Abbott, who has made a career of big hits against York, produced the biggest one yet, a three-run home run to leftfield, and Freeport was on its way.
Cockburn wasn’t about to surrender the lead and he allowed just two hits on the day as he and his teammates went on to a 3-0 victory, which was over in just 74 minutes.
The Falcons improved to 14-4 on the season, ended the Wildcats’ campaign at 12-6 and in the process, advanced to host Cinderella No. 15-seed Lake Region (6-12) in the Class B South semifinals Saturday at noon.
“We have that playoff magic again,” said Freeport coach Steve Shukie. “It’s probably a little more expected this year than it was last year.”
Destiny’s darlings?
Freeport has enjoyed its share of good fortune in recent years and the way the Class B South tournament field is developing could be more of the same.
The Falcons, who enjoyed another strong regular season, finished third in the region, away from the Greely, Yarmouth and Cape Elizabeth side of the bracket. While Freeport needed eight-innings to survive No. 14 Gray-New Gloucester (2-1) in Tuesday’s preliminary round, No. 2 Erskine Academy was upset by Lake Region, meaning the Falcons could play at home right through the semifinals, if they took care of business.
York started the season 3-3, but peaked in the second half and advanced by virtue of a 10-0 victory over No. 11 Leavitt in its prelim Monday.
The teams met back on May 2 in York, where Freeport prevailed, 9-5, behind a couple of home runs from Abbott, who also earned the victory.
The Falcons won all three previous playoff meetings: 7-2 in the 2016 Class B South quarterfinals, 2-1 in the 2019 Class B South Final and 7-1 in last year’s semifinal round. In all three of those seasons, Freeport went on to play for a state title.
The quarterfinal round game was originally scheduled to be played Thursday, but rain and poor field conditions moved it to Friday afternoon, where, on a very pleasant 73-degree day, Cockburn proved early that he would be tough to beat and once he got a big assist from Abbott, the Falcons were on their way to victory.
Freeport senior ace Blaine Cockburn throws a strike to York leadoff hitter Brody Gullison. Cockburn threw a two-hit shutout and the Falcons advanced, 3-0. Hoffer photos.
Cockburn got ahead of York’s leadoff hitter, sophomore second baseman Brody Gullison, 0-2, but Gullison worked the count full, then went the other way and lined a single to right. Cockburn then fell behind Henriksen 3-1 before battling back to strike him out looking. Senior shortstop Luke Doughty then bid for a hit when he grounded the ball up the middle, but Freeport senior second baseman Keigan Shea pounced on it, threw to junior shortstop Zane Aguiar for one out and Aguiar fired on to senior first baseman Robert Landry to complete the inning-ending double play.
Freeport senior second baseman Keigan Shea lines a first inning single off York senior Hayden Henriksen.
In the bottom half, Shea lead off with a single up the middle on an 0-2 pitch, but senior catcher Kempton von Glinsky-Gregoire bounced into a second-to-shortstop force out. Von Glinsky-Gregoire then stole second, but Cockburn struck out swinging and sophomore third baseman Thomas Roy grounded out to short to end the threat.
Senior catcher Joe Neal led off the top of the second by popping out to third, then Cockburn fanned sophomore desginated hitter Leo Sullivan and got senior rightfielder Zach Strand to ground to short for a quick 1-2-3 inning.
In the bottom of the second, Henriksen caught Abbott looking at an off-speed pitch for strike three, then sophomore designated hitter Aaron Converse grounded out to second, where Gullison made a nice barehanded snag before throwing him out. Landry got ahead in the count 3-0, but would ground out to short to retire the side.
Cockburn started the top of the third by getting junior first baseman Jake Fogg to hit a 3-2 pitch right back to him. Freshman centerfielder Jack Joyce then chased the first pitch he saw and flew out to right before Cockburn struck out freshman third baseman Conor Fell swinging.
In the bottom half, senior leftfielder Colin Cronin struck out swinging, senior rightfielder Gus Wing grounded out to short and Shea took strike three.
Cockburn started the top of the fourth by getting Gullison to ground out slowly to third and Henrkisen to bounce out to short in a bang-bang play, but with two down, Doughty singled just over the glove of Aguiar to end Cockburn’s string of 10 straight batters retired. Undaunted, Cockburn got Neal to ground out to third to end the inning.
And then, in the bottom half, Freeport’s bats came to life.
Von Glinsky-Gregoire struck out leading off, but Cockburn grounded the ball up the middle and reached on an infield hit when Doughty, ranging to his left, couldn’t come up with it. Then, with Cockburn on the move, the Falcons executed a hit-and-run, as Roy lined a single through the hole into leftfield, putting runners at first and second.
That brought up Abbott and after a passed ball moved both runners into scoring position, he got a pitch to his liking and crushed it to deep left-center. Senior leftfielder Drew Jancovic ranged back to the wall, but the ball cleared it with ease and the three-run home run gave the Falcons a 3-0 lead.
Freeport senior Nathan Abbott takes a mighty swing and hits a fourth inning home run to put Freeport ahead to stay.
Abbott’s teammates come running out of the dugout to celebrate after the home run.
Abbott leaps on home plate to give the Falcons a 3-0 lead.
“I have no explanation,” said Abbott, who has six career home runs with five coming against the Wildcats, including two in last year’s playoffs. “Every time I go up there (against York), I just feel comfortable and confident. (Henriksen’s) a good pitcher, but I was just waiting for that pitch and I was ready for it. It was a high fastball sitting right there. Before I even hit it, I knew.”
“I was on third and gave him that look right before he hit it and as soon as he made contact, I knew it was out,” Cockburn said. “It’s a good feeling when your buddy hits a three-run shot to give you some padding.”
“We said before that inning, ‘Someone has to blink here,'” Shukie added. “Everyone had seen (Henriksen) once. He throws hard and mixed in a curveball which we hadn’t seen before, but we just needed some guys on base. Nathan is just magical against York and put it out there. It’s beyond uncanny. Six home runs in his career and five against this team. They know it and we know it. Hopefully he carries this game forward like he did last year.”
Converse then hit a deep fly to left that was caught and Landry popped out to second, but Cockburn had all the support he’d need.
Cockburn had his most dominant inning in the top of the fifth, fanning Sullivan on a high fastball, striking out Strand on a 3-2 pitch, then fanning Fogg on high heat to get Freeport back in the dugout.
The Falcons couldn’t add to their lead in the bottom half, as senior pinch-hitter Devin Lamb struck out and after Wing singled to center, off the glove of the diving Joyce, Wing stole second, but was stranded as Shea lined out to center and von Glinsky-Gregoire flew out to deep center.
Cockburn made quick work of the Wildcats in the top of the sixth, getting Joyce to line out to third, freshman pinch-hitter Bradley Carr to ground out to second and Gullison to chase strike three.
In the bottom half, Cockburn was out on a bunt that was popped up to Henriksen, Roy struck out, then Abbott fanned as well.
Cockburn then went out and closed it out, but not before York did get one chance to get back in it.
Cockburn struck out Henriksen to start the top of the seventh, then he got Doughty to ground back to the mound. Neal then appeared to end it with a ground ball to third, but Landry dropped the throw at first and the game continued.
“That was good for us because it tells you anything can happen in playoffs in high school baseball,” Cockburn said.
Cockburn then shook it off and got Sullivan to end it and at 2:13 p.m., the Falcons celebrated their 3-0 victory.
Freeport senior catcher Kempton von Glinsky-Gregoire congratulates winning pitcher Blaine Cockburn as first baseman Robert Landry joins in the post-victory celebration.
“It’s such an amazing feeling,” said Abbott. “We just have such energy and team camaraderie.”
Cockburn excelled, allowing just two hits and no walks in seven shutout innings. He struck out eight.
“I didn’t even really realize it’s my last time pitching here,” said Cockburn, who will pitch for the University of Maine in Orono next year. “It’s one of my favorite bumps to throw on. A lot of good memories. It’s a mound which has played an important role in my career.
“My velo (velocity) wasn’t there today, but I realized that and tried to work off-speed. They were sitting fastball, so I just tried to keep them guessing with my curve and change-up and it worked out.”
“(Blaine) was just dominant all game,” said Abbott. “No one was touching him.”
“One run with Blaine on the mound is usually what we need,” Shukie added. “This year, he’s been great and even when he’s had guys on base, he doesn’t give in. It’s not like no one gets on base against him, but he pitches well with runners on which is an improvement from last year. His stuff was very good today and we played good defense behind him for the most part. We felt good with Blaine throwing. We knew we’d see the best part of their order again, but his pitch count was low and he was dealing.”
Freeport managed just five hits, but three came in succession in the fourth and that was enough.
Abbott, Cockburn and Roy scored the runs and Abbott drove in all three.
The Falcons left just two runners on base.
York managed just two hits and left two runners on.
Other than one pitch, Henriksen pitched very well also, allowing three earned runs on five hits in six innings. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out eight.
One step closer
Freeport beat Lake Region (8-1) back on May 6. The Falcons and Lakers have no playoff history.
Abbott plans to take the ball and if all goes well, lead his team to the regional final for the third straight season (the 2020 campaign was cancelled by COVID) and the fourth time since 2016.
“They’re looking for an upset, but not on our field,” Abbott said. “We know it’s possible, but we’re not letting it happen.”
“I want to (win states) more than anyone in the state,” Cockburn said. “I’d love to get the ball again, but we have to take it one game at a time like we have the past three years and keep chugging along.”
“We do get to play again at home,” Shukie added. “We won’t take anything for granted. We’re ready for a quick turnaround. We’re feeling good right now and we’ll be ready. Once step at a time. We can’t win a championship until we win the next game. We’ve been in this situation before. It’s a good feeling.”
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.
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