Old Town, Maine - After three straight losses by two runs or less, the FA baseball team desperately needed a strong outing from Jesse Provost at Old Town on Saturday, and the junior did not disappoint, delivering a brilliant complete-game performance that allowed the Ponies to defeat the Coyotes 4-3 despite some shoddy defense and another lackluster offensive performance. Provost was in total command all afternoon, throwing 65 of 97 pitches for strikes, striking out eight batters, yielding just three hits and two walks, and allowing no earned runs. He is now 1-1 with a 2.12 ERA in 19 innings pitched.
The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the 3rd when Cameron Archer’s two-out ground ball got through the left side of the Ponies’ infield, scoring Patrick Quimby from third. Trevor Francis attempted to score from second on the play but was gunned down at the plate by left fielder Hunter Law. The Ponies then used four walks, an error, a balk, a stolen base, and three wild pitches to take a 3-1 lead in the top of the 4th. Andrew Richardson’s two-out single cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the 6th, but the Ponies were able to add a valuable insurance run when Forrest Law legged out an infield single to score Shinsuke Mikame in the 7th.
Things got dicey in Old Town’s final at bat. Adam Boucher opened the frame with a single, and Tyler Lynch then reached on an error. Provost bore down and struck out Jonny Toole after a lengthy battle, but Zac Miller worked a walk to load the bases with one out. Leadoff man Gabe Melmed then crushed a ball into the left-center gap, but Hunter Law made another huge defensive play, tracking the ball down and also holding the tying run on second base (Boucher tagged from third to make it 4-3). Provost then buckled down and punched out Francis to preserve the hard-fought win.
Second baseman Caleb Richard continued to swing a hot bat for the Ponies, singling sharply twice and lining out to left field in three trips. The junior paces the Ponies with a .407 batting average and has scored a team-high 11 runs. Ryan Rebar and Forrest Law had the Ponies’ only other hits, and Mikame drew two walks and stole two bases.
The win improves the Ponies to 5-4 and bumps them all the way up to #3 in the Class B Heal Point standings. They will next take on top-ranked and undefeated John Bapst at FA on Thursday at 4:30. Ryan Rebar will be on the mound.
Photo: Cody Coiley tags out Trevor Francis at the plate (throw from Hunter Law in LF)
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