Winchester Little Leaguers Secure First Round Victory

After falling behind early, host Winchester was able to rally behind timely hitting and solid pitching for a late-inning, come-from-behind 6-3 win over Marshwood, Maine in Round 1 of the Cal Ripken 10-Year-Old New England Regional Baseball Tournament on Saturday night.

“What I love about this win is that we had every kid contributing,” said Manager Gene Gebolys.

The Sachems got two hits from pinch-hitter Nate Badger, after he was scratched from the starting lineup with a fever. The Sachems also got a solid performance on the mound from relief pitcher Kyle Roche. Roche pitched three scoreless innings to keep the game within reach for the Sachems while starting pitcher Jeffrey Price had five strikeouts in three innings to go along with a single, triple and a pair of RBI at the plate.

“Jeffrey was a monster both on the mound and at the plate today,” said Gebolys.

It was the State Championship team from Maine that got the scoring started on Saturday. In the top of the third, Marshwood brought all nine batters to the plate and scored three runs on three hits and three walks. They had the opportunity to tack on more insurance runs, but they left the bases loaded. Those missed chances would come back to haunt them when the Winchester bats got going.

Even after finding themselves in the early hole, the Sachems seem undeterred by the predicament.

“Our kids stayed loose. They were just having a blast and you could tell,” said Gebolys. “They’ve been down and come back before so this was nothing new for them.”

Winchester started their comeback in the home half of the third. Badger got a key pinch hit and they used his speed to motor around the bases and take advantage of some wild pitching to score the Sachem’s first run. 

In the bottom of the fourth, Winchester got another run back after Price tripled to straightaway center and came in to score on a wild pitch.

The Sachems really broke things open in the bottom of the fifth. Badger again got things started with a single to left, his second big hit of the contest. Ray Pike followed with a pinch hit bunt single that chased Maine’s starting pitcher from the contest. 

After Henry Sergenien drew a single to load the bases, Joe Lepore was hit with a pitch to force the tying run across the plate. Price scorched a single down the third-base line that plated two, and Michael Drew lined a shot to right that pushed the final Winchester run across the plate. 

“Sometimes it really helps to be the home team,” said Gebolys. “It’s good to be on a home field and it’s really terrific to see a significant chunk of the community coming out to support us.”

With the win, Winchester moves on to second round play in the top half of the bracket. The Sachems played Dover, NH on Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. at Nutile Field.