GARDINER — History could be repeating itself for the Gardiner baseball team. The Tigers are certainly hoping that’s the case.
Behind a strong effort on the mound from Noah Reed, Gardiner took down Winslow 6-0 on Monday in a matchup of Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B teams.
“That’s a big win, they’re a good team,” said catcher Kyle Adams, who had two hits in the victory. “We’re coming on.”
It just took the Tigers (5-7) some time. Gardiner stumbled out of the gates this season, beginning the season 0-4. But the Tigers have won five of their last eight, and the players said they like what they’re seeing now compared to what they were witnessing in April.
“When we hit the ball, we can compete with anybody,” Adams said. “We just need to keep our bats on.”
“Our record doesn’t really tell the whole story on the season,” Reed added. “I think we’re streaky, but when we get going, we get going.”
There’s historical precedent here. In 2019, Gardiner started 0-5 before going 7-4 in its remaining regular season games to make the Class B North tournament. This time around, the Tigers acknowledged, it feels familiar.
“It does,” Reed said. “When we went 0-4 to start out and then got four (wins) in a row, it was déjà vu for sure.”
Does the coach agree?
“I do,” Gardiner’s Charlie Lawrence said. “It’s a good feeling. That year we came back and put a charge on, and these kids are still quite capable of that.”
That’s not to say the circumstances are identical. It hasn’t been all good since that 0-4 start; after winning four in a row, Gardiner dropped three straight before getting back on track Monday.
Winslow baserunner Luke Boucher dives into first ahead of a throw to Gardiner first baseman Darien Jamison during a game Monday in Gardiner. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal Buy this Photo
“We were doubting ourselves a little bit after the third loss,” Lawrence said. “(But) we’re bouncing back. … We still have a few guys struggling at the plate, but they put the ball in play quite a bit, got aggressive on the bases and forced them into some mistakes.”
That was the sharpest contrast Monday. While Reed struck out six and was helped out by a Tigers defense that made only two errors and turned a double play, Winslow (6-6) starter John Day struck out two and was let down by Black Raiders fielders who committed six errors, all in the third and fourth innings as the Tigers scored all six of their runs.
In the third, Chase Kelley and Wyatt Chadwick led off with singles, and Drew Kelley hit a ball to third that got through for an error and then was misplayed in left for another, allowing both runners to score. Drew Kelley came in himself when Adams singled and another error in left allowed him to score from third.
In the fourth, Ryan Banister singled, Alex Grover reached on an error and both scored on a double steal when the throw home to get Banister instead got by the catcher. Chadwick ended up reaching on yet another error and scoring on Reed’s sacrifice fly.
“When you start making errors and you have that one huge inning, things go downhill quickly,” Winslow coach Isaiah Fleming said.
On offense, Winslow managed only three hits off of Reed, one of them a bunt single.
Gardiner first baseman Darien Jamison snags a pop up during a game against Winslow on Monday in Gardiner. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal Buy this Photo
“We just didn’t have the bats to keep up with it,” Fleming said. “If we’re hitting better, those two errors don’t really cost us. … We’ve had five combined hits in two games. Five hits isn’t going to win one game, let alone two.”
At 6-6 and 5-7, respectively, Winslow and Gardiner are right in the middle of races for higher seeds in a Class B that is still evolving.
“Our goal right now is to try to get ourselves in the top eight of the Heal points so we can host a playoff game,” Lawrence said. “That’s our goal every day.”
It seems more feasible now than it did about a month ago.
“Confidence is higher and higher every week,” Adams said. “Keep coming to practice and getting better. We just need to keep it up.”
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