With the bases loaded Hunter Lee stepped up to bat with only one out and Lawrence trailing 2-0 to Waterville in the 5th inning. Lee hit a scorching line drive that Alex Spaulding had hit his glove and he caught on the rebound, nearly getting a double play out of.
A wild pitch allowed Cole Quirion to score before Braden Littlefield hit a line drive to center that Ben Foster made a diving catch to end the inning and that was the only run the Bulldogs would get across the plate in a 5-1 loss.
Foster moved to centerfield after taking himself off the mound. He gave up a single, hit Parker Higgins, got a sac bunt out, and then went down 3-0 to Cameron Dostie in the 5th inning. Catcher Gage Hubbard called out coach Russell Mercier and they swapped Foster with starting centerfielder Garrett Gendreau. After the game a Panther coach said Foster had no arm pain but had lost some feeling and couldn’t grip the ball but would be fine going forward. Foster went 4.1 innings with 4 strikeouts, 1 hit batsman, 1 walk, gave up 4 hits, and was credited with 1 unearned run for the win. Foster now has a 0.36 ERA in 19 innings pitched on the season.
Waterville got on the scoreboard first thanks to a Wyatt Gradie double.
Foster then singled Grady home for the 2-0 lead. Foster finished 3-4 with a double, RBI and run scored. John Nawfel finished 2-3 with a run scored from the nine spot in the lineup.
Ben Ryder pitched all seven innings for Lawrence and came out in the top of the 7th looking to keep the lead at 2-1. He gave up a double but got two outs as Alex Spaulding stepped to the plate. Spaulding hit a ground ball to Lee who threw it short and allowed the inning to continue.
Hubbard was intentionally walked before a wild pitch moved the batters up 90 feet. Then Xavier Hamlin and Spencer Minihan had back-to-back hits to drive two more in for a three-run 7th inning.
Ryder finished with 7 innings, 6 strikeouts, 1 wild pitch, 1 walk, 11 hits given up but only 2 earned runs. The Bulldogs did have a chance to in the bottom of the 7th as the Panthers had their second 3-error inning. However, just as they did in the previous jam, the Panthers responded with great defense as Lee was robbed of a base hit by Nawfel.
Garrett Gendreau was able to close out the win with 2.2 innings pitched, 1 strikeout, 2 walks, 1 wild pitch and only 1 hit surrened. He lowered his season ERA to 1.00 in 7 innings. Waterville had seven errors on the day but made enough defensive plays, scattered five hits across seven innings and stranded ten Bulldog baserunners. The Panthers left eight on base and tallied 11 hits on the afternoon.
Lawrence falls to 9-3, 2 losses to Waterville, and plays at Cony on Monday.
Waterville moves to 7-5 and hosts Erskine Academy on Monday.
Watch full game: https://centralmainesports.com/5-19-2023-waterville-at-lawrence-baseball
