Mustangs Bested by Hawks’ Comeback, 9-6

Auburn, ME – CMCC Baseball dropped its second game of Yankee Small College Conference play, falling to York County Community College, 9-6 on Wednesday night. Central Maine led 6-2 midway through the game thanks to a three-run home run by T.J. Kramarz and a solid start on the mound by Camden Miller but could not hang on in the later innings. The Mustangs remain atop the YSCC standings despite the loss to the second-place Hawks.

It was a long day for both teams on a chilly spring afternoon, with temperatures dropping into the low 40's and the game running for more than three hours. York County took the lead in the top of the second. A single into right field by Ryan Langworthy scored Elijah Greenleaf with two outs for a 1-0 lead.

Central Maine responded in the bottom half. Hawks' starting pitcher Noah Bryan started to struggle after the first two batters popped out. Catcher Zac Gorman drew a two-out walk by laying off of ball four on a payoff pitch. Luc Oishi came on as a courtesy runner. Bailey Parcel and Ty Bernier also walked to load the bases for Dawson Babineau. Oishi trotted home on a wild pitch to tie the game at 1-1, but Babineau was caught looking on a full count to end the scoring threat.

Jack Sullivan put York County back in front in the top of the fifth. The YSCC All-Conference shortstop hit a ball to right field that tailed away towards the line, dropping in for a double and plating Chris Morton for a 2-1 lead.

Once again, the Mustangs responded in the bottom half of the inning, this time breaking the game open. Kramarz launched a three-run home run that curled around the left-field foul pole, driving in Bernier and Babineau. It was the hometown product out of Edward Little High School's third homer of the season, tying him for the team lead with Brendan Mahaney.

CMCC loaded the bases thanks to a Mahaney double, Jake Calver reaching on an error, and Caleb Oickle being hit by a pitch. Bryan was relieved by Sullivan, but the Mustangs still added to more runs in the inning. Gorman hit a sacrifice fly to center which brought home Mahaney. Calver then scored on a passed ball to make it 6-2.

A single to right and a double to left brought an end to Camden Miller's day on the mound in the sixth. The sophomore from Nova Scotia pitched five strong innings striking out four and allowing seven hits. Mathew Charrette came on in relief. Gabe Leitch scored on a groundout by Riley Parnham. The freshman from Freedom, NH struck out Brody Emery, but a wild pitch allowed Elijah Greenleaf to score, cutting the deficit to 6-4.

The inning continued on a fly ball that went off the glove of Calver in right. Caden Fontaine took a four-pitch walk, setting up Bryan to drive in a run with a lined shot to center field. After an intentional walk to Sullivan, catcher Cameron Sengenberger came to the plate and picked up an injury after fouling a pitch off his leg. The Oyster River High School product stayed in the game and hit a hard ground ball down the third base line. Kramarz, playing at the hot corner instead of his usual spot at short stop, made a fantastic diving play to snag the ball, but had no play to get an out. Fontaine scored to tie the game at 6-6. Kramarz made a second sensational defensive play a moment later, diving to his left and throwing to first in time to end the inning.

Owen Scott entered for Central Maine in the top of the seventh, four days after his solid outing to close out the win against Great Bay. The sophomore struggled this time out, walking the first two batters he faced. Alex Golub had an RBI sac-fly to score Greenleaf. Morton came around from first to score when a line drive off Fontaine's bat eluded the dive of Oickle in left field. That made it 8-6 York County.

Mahaney led off the bottom half with a single and Oickle saw his pop-up fall into shallow left. With two outs, Parcel drew his third walk of the day to load the bases, but Bernier saw his lined shot to center hauled in on the run by Greenleaf to end the threat.

Scott bounced back to retire the side in order in the eighth, but loaded the bases with one out in the ninth before being replaced by Joshua Gallik. The freshman from Kenora, ON, making his second appearance for CMCC, got Fontaine to fly out. Parnham tagged and scored to make it 9-6, but Avery Conant was judged to have left second base early, ending the inning.

The Hawks' ace Brady Battson came on in the eighth to try and close things out. In their first look, Post and Mahaney got on with two outs before Calver grounded out to end the threat. Down to their last three outs, Gorman and Parcel walked with one out. Bernier was called out on strikes, bringing the top of the order to the plate with Babineau representing the tying run. The freshman worked a full count before seeing ball four to load the bases for Kramarz. The Mustangs' best hitter went down on a called third strike with a curve ball catching the outside corner.

The victory was just the third win for YCCC at CMCC's turf complex, bringing the Hawks' overall record on the road against the Mustangs to 3-11 since their first meeting in 2022. Central Maine falls to 14-7 on the season and 10-2 in conference play, while York County improves to 20-8 overall. The Hawks are 1.5 games back of the Mustangs in the YSCC standings. The two sides meet once more this campaign on Wednesday, April 15^th.

Next up for CMCC, a visit from the UMaine-Augusta Moose on Friday, April 10^th. First pitch is scheduled for 5:00 pm.