Foxcroft homers five times in win at Central
CORINTH — Foxcroft Academy baseball used the long ball and nearly seven innings of no-hit ball to win 14-1 at Central High School of Corinth in a Class C North game on Monday afternoon to kick off a scheduled stretch of three games in four days during the final week of the regular season.
The Ponies improved to 12-2 with the team’s seventh straight victory and ninth in 10 games, which included a 4-0 win vs. the Red Devils (now 2-13) on May 16. The 14 runs tied a season-high for Foxcroft, matching the total of a 14-12 victory at Orono High School back on April 30. The Ponies are competing for one of the top seeds for the upcoming Class C North tourney, along with Washington Academy of East Machias (13-2 as of presstime) and Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln (14-0 as of presstime).
With a man on in the top of the first, Foxcroft sophomore Thomas Day sent a pitch from Central’s Alex Kennedy to deep rightfield. The ball landed just over the temporary plastic fence for a home run to put the Ponies on the scoreboard 2-0.
MEET AT HOME — Foxcroft Academy junior Lucas Sands (11) is congratulated by senior Hayden Strout (24) with sophomore Thomas Day to the left after Sands led off the top of the third with a solo home run during a game at Central High School of Corinth on Monday. The Ponies homered five times in a 14-1 victory, including three by Day for seven RBIs, as the Ponies improved to 12-2.
Day’s day was just beginning as he homered two more times. Later on in the sixth he hit the ball over the very left of the outfield fence for a two-run shot. An inning later he again sent the baseball over the leftfield fence for a three-run homer as part of a seven-RBI game. Day ended 3-of-5 with each hit of his game-high hit total being a homer for the seven RBIS including scoring three of these runs himself.
Junior Lucas Sands hit went yard to left field to lead off the third. Senior Calvin Landry’s round-tripper landed over the left field fence in the fifth drove in a pair as Foxcroft picked a total of 10 runs on the five home runs.
The Ponies finished with 11 hits, eight being good for extra bases, to provide significantly more than enough offense for what the pitching staff and defense provided.
THREE-HOMER DAY — Foxcroft Academy sophomore Thomas Day stretches for the out at first to start the bottom of the fifth inning of a game at Central High School of Corinth on Monday afternoon. Day hit three home runs in a 14-1 Pony victory, with these round-trippers resulting in seven RBIs for him.
With two games still to be played, including a rescheduled contest at Mattanawcook, Foxcroft used four pitchers to keep everyone under the pitch count to be ready to go if needed two and three days later in a high school version of a bullpen day.
The Pony pitchers kept Central hitless until there were two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Over the first six innings Foxcroft allowed just three base runners and none of them got into scoring position. Two got beyond first base in the seventh, but just one of them came home.
Senior Hayden Strout got the start and pitched the first two innings, striking out five of six batters to be perfect in the first and second.
HOME RUN TROT — Senior Calvin Landry gets ready to round third after hitting a home run to left field in the fifth inning of a 14-1 Foxcroft Academy win at Central. Landry’s homer was the third of five for the Ponies.
Sands pitched two innings as well and he also struck out five.
Senior Silas Topolski came in in the fifth and sophomore Evan Seavey was on the mound for the sixth and seventh innings.
The four combined for 14 strikeouts while allowing just the single hit — a pinch hit single to centerfield by Central’s Elias Porter with two outs in the bottom of the seventh— and three walks. Two other Red Devils reached after being hit by a pitch for six baserunners allowed all game long.
MAKING THE RED DEVILS PAY — Senior Joshua Knapp scored from third on a Central error in the field during the top of the third.
BASEBALL
Foxcroft 14 Central 1
Fox (12-2) 203 022 5 – 14
Cen (2-13) 000 000 1 – 1
Foxcroft: T. Day 3-5 3 HR seven RBI three runs; Harvey 2-3 2B E two runs three SB; Knapp 2-5 two 2B RBI run; McLellan 1-1 run SB; A. Day 1-2 RBi; Landry 1-4 HR RBI run; Sands 1-5 HR two RBI run; Strout 0-1 four BB four runs SB; Caruso 0-1 two HBP; Topolski 0-2 HBP
Central: Porter 1-1
WP: Strout 2 IP 0 runs 0 hits 0 BB 5 K
LP: Kennedy 4.1 IP 7 runs 7 hits 3 BB 4 K
LOB: Fox 5, Cen 5
MOUND OF SANDS — Pony junior Lucas Sands was on the mound for the third and fourth innings as four Foxcroft pitchers combined to give up just one hit, one run, three walks and six baserunners while striking out 14 in seven innings.