Auburn, ME – For the second year in a row, CMCC Baseball came through with a walk-off win in extra innings at home against York County. And once again, it was Brendan Mahaney breaking the Hawks' hearts, this time with an RBI-single to center field in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Mustangs a 3-2 win in game one of the doubleheader. Central Maine followed that up with a 5-1 victory in game two to take the sweep in their regular season opener.
This year also marked a change in Yankee Small College Conference rules where two games against YSCC opponents in the fall would count towards the conference standings, along with two played in the spring. That made the victories that much more important for the Mustangs young squad as the program looks to defend its YSCC title. The team features 20 first-year players with just eight returners.
Game One: 3-2 W
CMCC jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first in game one. A pair of freshman generated the first offense with second baseman Ty Bernier singling and stealing second, and outfielder Caleb Oickle hitting an RBI double to left.
Lee Robertson threw seven strong innings on the mound. The junior from Nova Scotia became a pitching option last spring, getting the ball in the conference championship game, and looks to be the team's ace this season. Robertson struck out six but did get tagged for the game-tying run in the top of the fourth. A sacrifice bunt moved runners to second and third, and Gabe Leitch drilled a sharply-hit comebacker off of Robertson's glove to make it 1-1.
Neither team could put another run across the plate in the scheduled seven innings. The Mustangs' best chance came with runners on second and third in the bottom of the sixth before a groundout ended the threat. That sent the game to extra innings where Aiden Wilkins came on in relief for what would turn out to be four innings of work.
The game went all the way to the 11th inning before another run crossed the plate. Leitch came through for the Hawks with his second RBI of the game, grounding a ball through the left side to score Elijah Greenleaf and go up 2-1.
With their backs against the wall, the Mustangs offense came to life. Freshman T.J. Kramarz led off with a single to left field. Oickle brought him all the way around to score with a double to the right field fence to tie things back up. Brendan Mahaney then stepped up with the chance to be the hero once again. Last spring, the Old Town, ME native lined a shot to the fence in extra innings to earn a 5-4 walk-off win over York County. For the second year in a row, the first baseman came through in the clutch, this time driving the ball off the base of the right-center field fence to bring Oickle around to score the winning run.
Game Two: 5-1 W
Having picked up the first win of the season in dramatic fashion, Central Maine wasted no time putting runs on the board in game two. Dawson Babineau and Kramarz reached second and third in the bottom of the first and Babineau sprinted home on a wild pitch for a 1-0 lead. With runners on the corners, the Mustangs executed the double steal perfectly. Oickle reached second safely and the throw back to the plate was not in time to get Kramarz, making it 2-0.
Starting pitcher Brady Vincent allowed one run to score in the top of the third from yet another Leitch RBI base hit. CMCC then pulled it back in the next half inning on a series of bad throws. Kramarz reached first after being hit by a pitch and took off for second when a low delivery from Cameron Sengenberger bounced through the legs of catcher Jackson Mattox. Kramarz looked to take third as well and the throw from the catcher bounced into left field allowing the Edward Little Red Eddies product to cross the plate.
It stayed close until the bottom of the sixth when the hosts put the game away. With the bases loaded and two outs, Brayden Beaule and Luc Oishi both scored on wild pitches to make it 5-1. Camden Miller came on to close things out, but not before it got interesting. Leitch stepped to the plate as the potential game-tying run with two outs and the bases loaded for the Hawks. This time though, the second baseman could only fly out to center, bringing the doubleheader to an end.
The Mustangs showed good ability at the plate, racking up 10 hits and 13 walks in their regular season opener. The sweep also made it seven straight wins against York County dating back to last fall.
