BUCKFIELD’S Rick Kinske scores in the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly ahead of the throw as Richmond catcher Trystin Shea prepares to catch the ball. The Bobcats won, 11-6. ERIC MAXIM / THE TIMES RECORD
RICHMOND
According to Richmond High School baseball coach Ryan Gardner, it’s “good to play a close game once in a while” when your team has had double-digit victories over its last nine wins.
On Tuesday, Buckfield came to town and provided the Bobcats with that opportunity.
Trailing 4-2, Richmond scored five runs in the fourth inning to retake the lead and pulled away for an 11-6 victory in a battle between East-West Conference foes.
“We really needed to play something like that. Most of our games have been over in five (innings),” Gardner said. “We need to get a mix of games in there.”
Senior Zach Small earned the win, pitching 6 1/3 innings of no-hit ball before Matt Rines relieved him in the seventh to close out the game. Small fanned nine hitters, walked four and hit two batters.
“I didn’t have my control today,” Small said. “I like to mix in a lot of curveballs, but I wasn’t hitting them today.”
The Bobcats (11-0) opened the game with two runs in the bottom of the first inning off Buckfield starter Tyler Gammon. After Andrew Vachon singled and Danny Stewart walked, Nate Kendrick hit a ball to third base where the throw was wild at first, allowing both runners to score.
RICHMOND’S ZACH SMALL fires a pitch during a high school baseball game against Buckfield. The Bobcats won, 11-6. ERIC MAXIM / TIMES RECORD STAFF
The Bucks (7-5) answered in the third, taking advantage of a wild Small. After a fly out, the right-handed hurler hit the next two hitters before Shane St. Pierre’s batted ball was thrown away, letting both runners to score to tie the game. Small struck out the next hitter, but the batter reached first after the pitch was wild. Two more infield errors pushed across the next run before a Dylan Harvey sacrifice fly plated the fourth run of the inning, giving the visiting Bucks a 4- 2 lead.
“We put the ball in play and made things happen,” Buckfield coach Ben Keene said. “That’s what we tell the team, and today it got us some runs.”
“We didn’t field the ball well today,” Gardner said, whose team made four errors on the day. “That didn’t make me very happy, but it’s getting late in the season so we want to see if we can battle through it.”
The Bobcats battled through the tough frame, retaking the lead that was once theirs. Kendrick led off the inning with a walk and stole second. Gammon attempted to pick off Kendrick, but the righty’s throw went into center field, moving Kendrick to third. Two pitches later, Kendrick scampered home on a wild pitch.
Following two quick outs, Ben Gardner started things again, roping a double to left. Dakotah Gilpatric singled, scoring Gardner with the tying run. A Rines single and a walk to Vachon loaded the bases. After fly outs in his previous two at-bats on the day, Small ripped a single to left field, scoring two more Bobcat runs.
“I hit a home run the other day, so I think it changed my swing a little,” Small said. “I knew I needed to get my top hand over the ball and put it out there somewhere so we could score some runs.”
Vachon later scored the fifth run of the inning, on another wild pitch, giving the home team a 7-4 lead through four innings.
“That’s what we do, we get pitchers thinking about the runners,” Gardner said, as the Bobcats stole 11 bases in the contest. “We move runners-up so a base hit may score two instead of just one.”
Meanwhile, Small continued to stifle the Buckfield hitters, retiring the next six hitters and working around another infield error when catcher Trystin Shea threw out the runner trying to steal second.
Small seemed to get into a little trouble in the sixth when he walked a pair of hitters following a leadoff punch-out. But the senior stopped any potential threat, striking out the next two hitters to end the frame.
Already leading 9-4, the Bobcats tacked on two more runs in the sixth inning off Zach Grover, who replaced Gammon at the top of the inning. The Bobcats scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Kendrick and an RBI single from Ben Gardner for the 11-4 lead heading into the final inning.
After a leadoff walk and a pop out to second base, Ryan Gardner replaced Small on the mound with Rines.
“He was at 95 pitches and I want to be able to use him this Saturday when we play,” the coach said.
After failing to get a hit off of Small, Ethan Jackson greeted Rines with a single to left field. Following a pair of walks, Dylan Harvey hit a sacrifice fly to score Rick Kinske. A bases-loaded walked scored another run, sending Kaleb Harvey to the plate. The right-handed hitter hit a sharp grounder to third base, where Vachon fired to first for the final out.
“Our kids learned from this,” Keene said. “The first thing the kids said to me after the game was “we’re ready for the playoffs,” which is a great thing to hear from them.”
Currently Richmond and Buckfield sit 2-3 in the Class D South Heal Points.
“Again, when you play a lot of games where we are beating teams by double-digits, it’s good to see our team bare down,” coach Gardner added.
Rines finished with two hits and an RBI, while Shea, Justin Vachon and Ben Gardner also knocked two hits apiece in the 11-hit attack.
Richmond hosts Valley on Friday for a doubleheader at 2 p.m. before visiting St. Dom’s in Auburn on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Richmond 11, Buckfield 6
At Richmond
— 004 000 2 — 6 1 3 — 200 522 x — 11 11 4
| Buckfield |
| Richmond |
Tyler Gammon, Zach Grover (6) and
Cole Merrill; Zach Small, Matt Rines
(7) and Trystin Shea.
WP — Small; LP — Gammon
Doubles — (R) Ben Gardner, Trystin
Shea.
Repeat Hitters — (R) Matt Rines,
Trystin Shea, Justin Vachon, Ben
Gardner.
Records — Richmond 11-0; Buckfield 7-5.
Up next for the Bobcats — Friday at
home against Valley for a doubleheader, 2 p.m.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
