EAST CORINTH- Benjamin Speed fired a complete game one-hit shutout on the mound, and also helped with his bat with three hits on Monday afternoon as the #7 Central Red Devils beat #10 Houlton 9-0 in a Class C baseball preliminary playoff played at Central High School.
Central would get all they needed in the bottom of the first inning. Jacoby Buzzard and Hayden Strout both walked to start it off, and then Speed had an infield single to load the bases with no outs. After Bryce Cadieux popped out, Jackson Pollock slapped an RBI single to right field and Nate Cox walked to force in another run. Houlton worked out of the jam when Malcolm Butler hit one back to the pitcher Thadon Gentle, who came home for the force and Butler was thrown out at first by the catcher to complete a doubleplay. Meanwhile, Speed did his thing on the mound. The right hander only allowed four baserunners and no hits over the first five innings, three via walks and one on an error. His team would pad their lead in the bottom of the fifth by putting up seven runs on six hits. The Red Devils batted around and got RBI singles from Pollock, Cox, Liam Kimball, Speed, and an RBI double by Nick Masters. Speed allowed just the one Houlton hit, which was a leadoff single by Cody Johnston in the sixth inning.
The final line for Speed in the victory was 7.0 innings pitched, no runs, one hit, three walks, and 10 strikeouts. He also singled three times with one RBI. Pollock had two hits and two RBI, while Buzzard and Strout both reached base four times on walks and scored two runs each. Johnston had a walk and the lone hit for Houlton. Gentle went 4.2 innings on the mound allowing seven runs (six earned) on six hits with eight walks and two strikeouts. The Shiretowners season ends with a record of 5-10. Central (7-10) advances to a quarterfinal matchup with #2 Washington Academy (14-2) in East Machias scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
Recap/photos/videos by Chris Lessner
