Monday afternoon in Hampden, Sawyer Pinkham slammed a game winning home run in the sixth inning and hurled a perfect game for 4.2 innings combining with two relievers on a no-hitter as District 5 Dirigo (1-1) edged District 1 Ellsworth (1-2) 1-0 in an elimination game of the 11-12 baseball State Tournament.
With a scoreless tie in the top of the sixth, Pinkham smashed a home run to straight away center field to put Dirigo on top 1-0.
Dirigo's Sawyer Pinkham trots around second base after hitting the go ahead and game winning home run in Monday's 11-12 baseball State Tournament in Hampden. Dirigo eliminated Ellsworth with the 1-0 win. Photo by Skip Hawkes
Pinkham was removed for a reliever with two outs in the fifth inning. Jake Rideout retired the final batter of the fifth, and got two outs in the sixth before being replaced by Tyler Bailey. Rideout was removed with 18 pitches thrown, allowing him to be available for Tuesday’s game, and was the pitcher of record. Bailey got the only batter he faced to foul out to third base to pick up the save.
Pinkham, Rideout, and Bailey combined on the no-hitter. Pinkham had six strikeouts in his 4.2 innings of work. Rideout earned the win with his one inning of work. He walked one and struck out two.
Pinkham had a home run and two singles with an RBI to lead Dirigo at the plate, and Dameron Rodrigue chipped in with a single.
Dirigo's Dameron Rodrigue singles in the third inning. Photo by Skip Hawkes
Conor Maguire was the tough luck losing pitcher for Ellsworth. Maguire allowed only four hits and struck out 11 in his complete game performance.
Ellsworth second baseman Hank Vinall continued to display his defensive skills with another diving catch. Vinall, who made a diving stab of a line drive in Sunday’s game, ran down a fly ball into shallow right field with his back to the ball and went horizontal to make the tremendous catch. Through the first five games of the State Tournament, Vinall has earned the right to be called the Defensive MVP of the tournament.
Ellsworth second baseman Hank Vinall makes an over the shoulder diving catch in shallow right field during the sixth inning. Photo by Skip Hawkes
Dirigo moves on in the loser’s bracket to face the winner of game six between Cumberland and South Berwick. They will play on Tuesday at 5:30. The 3:00 p.m. game on Tuesday will be District 2 Camden-Rockport (1-0) and District 3 Bangor East (1-0).
