In their final game of the Class B North regular season, the Hermon Hawks played host to the Mount Desert Island Trojans, coming away with a hard-fought 3-2 victory.
Last season, the Trojans (7-7) made light work of the Hawks, sending Hermon home on the wings of a 10-0 thrashing. The Hawks themselves were in a rut heading into this contest, having lost their last five games.
Chad Willis was stellar for Hermon (7-10), going the distance and collecting 10 strikeouts along the way.
On the other side of the rubber, MDI’s Jay Haney was dealing on his own accord. Though he was pulled in favor of Joey Wellman-Clouse in the fifth inning, Haney still fanned nine batters in a limited showing.
The game was hitless until the top of the fourth inning, when MDI’s Brendan Graves sent a single into shallow center. Graves’ hit drove in Colin Sullivan, who got on base after a throwing error.
The Trojans nearly kept the momentum alive the very next inning, thanks to a bloop single from Nick Jacobs with two outs. Wellman-Clouse was slated to hit following Jacobs, and though he beat the throw off of his dribbling grounder, he missed the first base bag and was ruled out to end the top of the fifth.
After five innings, Hermon registered its first hit when Daniel England drilled a line drive down the third base line and reached first safely. He then stole second on the first pitch of the ensuing at-bat. Brady Theriault was next to bat, and sent a chopper off the mound to shortstop. The Trojans fumbled both the throw and catch, allowing England to race home and Theriault to advance to second, which tied the game at one run a piece.
Theriault went on to steal third base on a passed ball. Max Hopkins was able to work a walk, and like England, stole second base. Danny Fowler followed and was able to outlast Haney, earning a walk himself and subsequently loading the bases for Maddox Kinney with two outs.
Kinney, a sophomore who was subbed into the game, got a hold of a hanging off-speed pitch and belted a shot to deep left-center field, forcing the left fielder to race back toward the wall. The ball itself ricocheted off the blue tarp shielding the outfield wall, as Theriault and Hopkins scored and extended the Hawks’ lead to 3-1.
Wellman-Clouse was brought in to relieve Haney shortly afterward.
The top of the sixth inning was trouble for the Hawks as two Trojan singles and a hit batsman loaded the bases for Isaac MacDonnell. The first baseman sent a line shot through the infield that was hit hard enough to drive in a run, but MacDonnell was thrown out at first.
MDI didn’t add any runs in the top of the sixth, but held down the fort in the bottom of the inning. Hermon attempted to put runners in scoring position, but Anthony Crisafulli was thrown out at second after trying to steal following his single.
Willis remained in the game for the seventh inning, even though he was nearing 90 pitches on the day. The fatigue from a long outing briefly reared its head when Willis mishandled a ground ball at his feet, allowing Wellman-Clouse to reach first in the top of the inning. The relief pitcher stole second after a passed ball, and looked to make it home on any contact and tie the game.
Unfortunately for the Trojans, the only contact they’d see that inning was Haney flying out to Crisafulli in foul territory, ending the game in favor of the Hawks, 3-2.
Hermon’s victory is massive heading into the Class B North playoffs, as this game may prove to be the momentum boost needed to turn their season around.
