2004 Game Detail

Cape Wins with Casey At the Bat (6/10/2004) - Greely 1 vs Cape Elizabeth 4

GORHAM — Before the game, Conor Casey was joking with some teammates that he would get the big hit in Cape Elizabeth´s Western Class B baseball championship game against Greely. About 90 minutes later, that´s precisely what he did.

Casey´s two-out, three-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning broke a tie and lifted third-seeded Cape Elizabeth to a 4-1 win Thursday over the eighth-ranked Rangers.

Cape Elizabeth (15-4) will play Hermon (15-4) for the Class B state championship at 11 a.m. Saturday at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor.

It will be Cape´s first appearance in the title game since 1993. Hermon never has played for the state title.

"It´s a great feeling. It´s been a long time for Cape baseball," said Casey, who was 2 for 3. "It´s time to get some pride going back into it and be mentioned with some of the best teams around. And I definitely think we are."

Much like the two regular-season games between the teams - they each won one, both times by a run - this game was tight.

The Capers scored in the first but stranded four runners at third in the first five innings. Greely (14-6) threatened in the first but didn´t score until the sixth.

That´s when Ryan Copp led off with a bloop opposite-field double to right and pinch-runner Jon Alley scored two batters later on a groundout by Kevin Burke.

Then Cape regrouped with its 3-4-5 hitters coming up.

"We felt if we could get our lead runner on, we´d have a chance," said Coach Todd Day.

Taylor White led off with a walk off Copp. After an out, Pat Kertes walked. Tom Gruber flied to left, but Ben Weimont followed with a liner up the middle.

Greely second baseman Ryan Pote - who saved a run earlier with a diving stop - again dived and knocked the ball down on the edge of the outfield grass, forcing White to stop at third.

That brought up Casey. On a 2-2 count, he drove the ball to the gap in right-center. All three runners scored on the double.

"I knew he was going to come through right there," said Gruber, the winning pitcher. "The whole team knew he was going to come through."

Casey just wanted to get the bat on the ball.

"I just didn´t want to go down with a strikeout," he said. "I´ve been slumping a little lately but I just wanted to put it in play and see what happens. Fortunately I was able to get it in the air.

"It felt good coming off the bat, then it kept going up in the air and traveling. I was just hoping it wouldn´t get caught."

"We were one pitch from getting out of it," said Derek Soule, Greely´s coach. "Give Casey credit. He was able to catch up with a high fastball."

Gruber, who allowed only four hits in beating Greely for the second time this season, set the side down in order in the seventh.

"We start five sophomores," said Day, "but these guys have a lot of experience in competitive situations, in Little League, in Senior League, playing for championships.

"So they´ve had those experiences and they drew on them out there. They don´t get tight."

- Staff Writer Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or at:

mlowe@pressherald.com

Name	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SAC	HBP	SO	SB	PO	A	E
Copp, Ryan	3	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Pote, Ryan	3	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	3	0
Martin, Brad	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	0
Bisbing, Andrew	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	1
Knight, Will	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	9	0	0
Alley, Jon	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Burke, Kevin	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Green, Sam	3	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	1
Valente, Paul	3	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Martin, Chris	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	27	24	2	4	1	0	0	0	4	1	0	1	1	14	13	2

Name	GS	CG	Sho	W	L	S	H	IP	AB	R	H	SO	BB	HB	WP	ER
Copp, Ryan	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	6.0	23	4	6	1	3	1	0	4
TOTALS							0	6.0	23	4	6	1	3	1	0	4