Five-run second inning leads York baseball past Fryeburg in Class B South season opener

YORK, Maine - Thursday afternoon marked the first scheduled regular-season game for the York High School baseball team since its crushing defeat last June to Freeport in the Class B South quarterfinals.

And the Wildcats were eager to move past that and embark on a new and exciting journey for 2023, and York did a great job in doing so.

York defended its home diamond with an 8-4 win over Fryeburg Academy, a great way to start the season for a rather young Wildcats' squad.

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"I thought for the group of guys we have, where we have a bunch of guys who are out there getting their first varsity experience, I thought there were moments where we looked a little hesitant and kind of showed our age," York head coach Nick Hanlon said. "But there also moments, especially at the plate where we really achieved a lot of our early-season goals - which is being able to hit and contribute up and down the lineup."

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Hanlon added, "it feels great. I think we got a little bit of the anxiety out of our system and a little bit of the nervousness out of our system and got the bad taste out of our mouths from the way our season ended last year," he said. "Overall, the experience piece is really going to help us going forward."

York and Fryeburg were tied 1-1 after the first inning, but the Wildcats created separation with a five-run second.

"I think it's huge, especially with a young team with not much experience, I think it's a good thing to get (a win) under our belt," York sophomore Conor Fell said. "I think it's a good win, can't complain about that."

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"It feels great," York sophomore pitcher John Jacobsohn said. "Especially a big win like this; it feels great to get the momentum going for the season."

Five of the nine players in York's starting lineup are underclassmen, with Jake Fogg being the only senior.

"We had a great approach at the plate, we were just aggressive," junior Ben Brown said. "That's kind of what we were preaching all week. We said (Fryeburg) is going to put it in the zone, we have to get the bat on the ball and get the ball in play. If we get the ball in play, good things happen."

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Wildcats capitalize off of Fryeburg's miscues

Fryeburg made a few costly mistakes, and the Wildcats wasted no time capitalizing, including York's first run of the game.

Jacobsohn hit a pop fly to the outfield that was dropped by Caleb Micklon. York's Bradley Carr scored on the error, but Leo Sullivan was thrown out attempting to reach third base.

The Wildcats broke the game open in the second by scoring five of its eight runs, with two of the five coming on a dropped ball in right field off the bat of Jack Joyce. The error allowed Brown and Fell to score on the play that put York up 5-1.

"That was one of the things we were really talking about in our preseason scrimmages up until this point," Hanlon said. "And that was taking advantage that a lot of teams haven't been out on the field as much, have an aggressive approach on the base paths and really talking about productive outs. Not striking out, putting the ball in play and taking advantage of any bobbles and errors that may have been made on the defensive side."

Jacobsohn did point out that the sun was beaming and causing quite the distraction, but even though, the Wildcats were aware on the bases.

"I think we took advantage of their mistakes a lot," Jacobsohn said. "We got a lot of runners on, and we would use that momentum. Hitting is very contagious with our team, so once one person starts hitting, then the whole team starts hitting."

Fell and Brown each had an RBI single in the second.

"I think we definitely got comfortable," Fell said of the second inning. "I think with our team, when we start hitting I think everyone sort of builds off of each other."

Slamming the door in the seventh

York held a rather comfortable five-run lead at 8-3 to the start the seventh, but with the game of baseball, the game isn't over until the final out is recorded - and Fryeburg made the Wildcats work for the final three outs.

Fryeburg's Bryce Richardson reached on an error, Alexander Allain was hit by a pitch, and Edgar Real singled to left field, loading the bases with no outs.

Brown was on the mound in his first inning of work in the seventh, and even with the bases loaded, he was confident in his ability to slam the door.

"I had a good cushion, so the whole time even when the bases were loaded, with no outs, I was still comfortable," Brown said. "I know we have a really good defense, and we have a lot of good athletes on the team who can make plays, so I was good. I knew if they put the bat on the ball, I was confident in anybody out there."

A sharp defensive play is exactly what Brown received as Ethan Lord hit a grounder to third baseman Lucas Ketchum who fired to catcher Bradley Carr for the force out at home.

Fryeburg pushed across one run on Bryan Martinez' sacrifice fly.

"You want to be in tight ball games, and even though the score might not show that today, that was a tighter ball game than the score shows," Hanlon said. "And you want to be on those tight situations, because they prepare you for bigger moments going forward, so I'm proud of them for pulling through."

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: York baseball kicks off season with 8-4 win over Fryeburg Academy