Two rival Class A baseball teams headed in opposite directions in recent weeks reversed course at Brewer’s Heddericg Field on Wednesday evening, with the host Witches scoring four unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to rally past Hampden Academy 4-2.
Brewer entered the contest ranked seventh in the division after losing five of its previous six games while Hampden was fifth after winning five of its previous six outings.
Wednesday’s result reversed the teams’ Heal point rankings, with Brewer now fifth and Hampden seventh as the teams contend for home-field advantage in the opening round of the playoffs in early June.
Both teams are now 7-7.
Pivotal plays: Brewer had all of its runs and hits in the bottom of the fourth to erase a 1-0 deficit with an uprising that began with an outfield error that allowed Noah Tibbetts to reach base. Tibbetts advanced to second base on a balk and scored the tying run on Rowan Valley’s one-out, ground single up the middle.
A bunt single by Andrew Hodgins and a walk to Ethan Norwood loaded the bases, and after a strikeout No. 9 batter Evan Nadeau drove home two runs with a sharp single to left and Jed Gilpatrick followed with an RBI single to left-center to give Brewer its three-run cushion.
The rest was left to the pitching combination of Gilpatrick and reliever Maddox Torrey, who combined to scatter eight hits while stranding 12 Hampden Academy baserunners. Gilpatrick yielded two ruins, one earned, on seven hits over 5 2/3 innings before reaching the 110-pitch limit, then Torrey came on to get the four-out save.
Kaden Beloff pitched a complete-game four-hitter for Hampden with 10 strikeouts and four walks, while Logan Burns doubled and singled and Ethan Phelps singled twice to pace the Broncos’ offense. Kaysen Wildman added an RBI single for Hampden.
Big takeaway: This was a big victory for Brewer as it seeks to enhance its chances of hosting a first-round game in the Class A playoffs, as the Witches were coming off back-to-back two-run losses to Brunswick and Mount Ararat of Topsham and hadn’t defeated a Class A team since a 3-2 decision at Hampden Academy on May 2.
What’s next: Each team has two games left in the regular season, though Brewer faces the more challenging tests at No. 2 Oxford Hills of South Paris on Friday and at top-ranked Bangor next Wednesday. Hampden will conclude its regular season with a doubleheader against Camden Hills of Rockport on Wednesday.