Drew Friday takes a cut for Locked In Baseball Expos Black in Super 17 Invitational play.
By Rich Bevensee
The makeup of the Maine Lightning Scout roster consists mostly of high school freshmen. That’s normally a recipe for some tough sledding in a 17/18U Wood Bat tournament.
But after the Lightning put the finishing touches on a come-from-behind, 5-4 victory over Locked In Baseball Expos Black to finish 2-2 for the week, the buzz was generally positive, especially from the parents section, which expressed its pleasure with leaving Diamond Nation in Flemington on a positive note.
John Sprague, Kevin True and Dakota Winkler provided the key hits for Maine, which trailed 4-0 after three innings, and Garrett Secord wiggled out of a tricky jam in the sixth to preserve the victory in Week 2 of the Super 17 Invitational Powered by Victus.
“I think we did really good this week,” True said. “We were definitely the underdogs in this tournament and we didn’t let it get to us that we had to use wood bats.”
“This is a young team, rising sophomores, and we faced a kid who was throwing 88 – that’s a Division 1 pitcher,” Maine coach Eric Schwab said. “These 15-year olds were not intimidated, didn’t care how old kids were, came out to play, and we play a brand of baseball where we hit the ball and run the bases and we play to win no matter who we’re playing.”
That Expos pitcher Schwab is referring to was Justin Zigon, a rising senior lefty at Chatham High. Zigon kept the Lightning quiet with three scoreless and hitless innings before running into trouble in the fourth.
Sprague had a one-out, two-run single off Zigon to get the Lightning on the board, and two batters later True turned in a nifty piece of hitting to tie the game at 4-4. With the infield drawn in, the righty-hitting True took an outside pitch and lifted it over the infield and into right for another two-run single that tied the game.
Before Secord took the mound he made an impact with his bat, getting a base hit to open the top of the fifth and scored from second on a one-out double by Winkler to give the Lightning a 5-4 lead.
Dakota Winkler rounds third for Maine Lightning Scout in his team’s Super 17 Invitational victory.
“We were locked in, ready to go,” said True, a rising sophomore at Cheverus High in Portland, Maine. “We were ready to get the runs in and do what we needed to do and play our game. No worries.”
True may not have been able to say “no worries” about Secord, who came on in relief in the seventh inning and got himself into hot water quickly by allowing the go-ahead runs to reach with no outs.
Secord’s primary position is center field and he also plays third base. Before this week, Secord had not pitched since Little League. Secord made his first pitching appearance on a 90-foot diamond on Monday with two scoreless innings of relief. Friday was his second stint.
“I’m a little nervous, but I just think positively,” said Secord, a rising sophomore at Bonny Eagle High in Standish, Maine. “I thought if I get the ball down in the zone I’ll be good, and hopefully I can strike someone out. It felt great.”
Secord got the job done, inducing an infield popup, a strikeout and an infield groundout to end the game.
Winkler, who started for the Lightning, lasted four innings and allowed four runs on four hits, walked none and struck out three. Sprague pitched two scoreless innings of relief, allowing one hit and striking out four.
The Lightning began their week with two straight drubbings, a 12-0 beating at the hands of Wladyka American and a 12-2 loss to Hamilton A’s Nation. But Maine rebounded with a 7-3 win over Prospects Baseball Academy and a comeback victory over the Expos.
For the Expos, Zigon went 3⅓ innings and yielded three runs on two hits and four walks with four strikeouts. Robert Frei pitched 2⅔ innings and allowed one unearned run on four hits and no walks.
The Expos built their 4-0 lead entirely in the third inning. Sprague, playing first base, made a diving stop of a Fletcher Wiley grounder but an errant throw while he was still on the ground allowed Tyler Jacobs to score from second.
Two batters later Joe Kealy blasted a three-run home run which curled around the left field foul pole.
Expos Black finished 0-4, bowing to Hamilton A’s Nation, 9-0, NJ Rising Rebels 17U, 7-1, Zoned RedHawks 16U, 6-5, and the Lightning.