BIDDEFORD — Through 11 games this season, the Biddeford baseball team has shown a knack for winning games in a variety of different ways while getting contributions from players up and down the roster.
On Tuesday against Sanford, it was a freshman getting the job done at both the plate and on the mound as the Tigers found another way to win.
Using a variety of different pitches to keep the Sanford lineup off-balance all game, Brady Crepeau pitched a complete-game six-hitter and had two-key at-bats that led to three runs to lift Biddeford to a 4-1 victory over the Spartans in an SMAA game at St. Louis Field.
It was the fifth-straight win for the Tigers (9-2), whose rotation of Corey Creeger, Nate Huot and Crepeau has now allowed just two runs over the last three games. Crepeau improved his record to 3-0 on the year with the win, dropping his earned run average to 2.13, and pushed his batting average to above .400 with a sixth-inning RBI double.
“His biggest thing is just his mentality. He’s a very confident, calm, poised kid,” Biddeford coach Keith LeBlanc said of Crepeau. “He’s not nervous, he embraces big situations and he did a great job today.”
Crepeau struck out just one but lived in the strike zone all game, hitting his spots and walking just two Sanford batters as he relied on the defense behind him ”“ Biddeford entered the game with a .966 fielding percentage, the second-best in the SMAA ”“ to get outs.
“He’s a crafty little lefty. He hits his spots and they play to contact,” Sanford coach Mark Boissonneault said. “He’s going to make them hit it and use his defense, and defensively, they’re very good. They made the plays.”
“It comes from our team,” said Crepeau of his confidence as a freshman. “They’ve been very supportive toward me and make me feel like I’m an older guy. That helps a lot.”
Crepeau helped himself out in the second, fighting back after falling behind 0-2 to draw a walk off Spartans starter Brandon Wambolt and then stealing second to give the Tigers runners at second and third with one out.
Brandon Daigle popped out to Wambolt, but Tigers designated hitter Randy Vadnais, making a rare start, followed with a flare over the third-base bag and just inside the foul pole as Biddeford jumped out to a 2-0 lead.
“That was a huge two-out hit,” LeBlanc said. “When your spot comes up in the lineup and there’s two guys on you’ve got to get it done. That’s what I expect and Randy did a great job. He hadn’t been getting a lot of at-bats but his turn came around to be the DH, and he made the most of his opportunity.”
Sanford (4-6) got a run back in the fourth when Jed Scott took a Crepeau pitch that caught a little too much of the strike zone and hit a towering shot over the fence in right field.
The Spartans then had a chance to tie the game in the fifth as singles by Dan Almquist and Eddie Michetti put runners on first and third with one out.
But that’s when the Tigers’ defense made a difference as Crepeau’s throw over to first base picked off a stealing Michetti, who was out at second as shortstop Creeger made a tremendous play to block the bag and tag Michetti for the second out, with Crepeau then getting Jimmy Parks to ground-out to end the inning.
The Tigers went on a run in the fifth on Kerry Crepeau’s two-out single that plated Jeff Thompson, and Brady Crepeau followed his brother’s suit with another big at-bat in the sixth, fouling off several Wambolt pitches with two strikes before driving a double to center field to bring in Nate Huot and make it 4-1.
“You’ve got to see pitches clearly, and I was seeing pitches clearly today,” Crepeau said. “I just had to find a way to get on base.”
Crepeau also worked out of jams with runners in scoring position in the sixth and seventh to preserve the win. The Spartans were just 1-of-7 for the game with runners on base in the game, and have scored only 12 runs total in their past six games, five of them losses.
“We put some good swings on and hit the ball hard, things just weren’t falling our way,” Boissonneault said. “And that’s the difference between them and us ”“ they’re taking advantage of those two-out situations, and we’re not.”
Despite the skid, the Spartans still sit in a playoff position in the Western Class A Heal Point standings and will look to solidify that place when they visit Scarborough on Thursday.
On the other end, Biddeford edged ever closer to top-ranked South Portland ”“ which lost 3-1 to Portland Tuesday ”“ with the victory and will look to keep the winning streak going when it hosts Gorham Thursday.
“We’ve been kind of under the radar, not a lot of guys who are all-stars or anything like that,” LeBlanc said. “But these guys all played together last summer and got some confidence, and they know they can play. It’s been a great season so far.”
— Staff Writer Cameron Dunbar can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or cdunbar@journaltribune.com.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
