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HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL: Morang, Winthrop stymie Hall-Dale
BY GARY HAWKINS, Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 05/10/2008

FARMINGDALE -- Easton Morang's given name derives from the well-known aluminum bat company.

The Winthrop High School sophomore lived up to his namesake's reputation with three singles Friday against Hall-Dale, but he was much more important on the mound. Making his second varsity start, Morang held the Bulldogs to three hits in a 9-1 win.

Winthrop is 5-1 in Mountain Valley Conference play while Hall-Dale falls to 4-3.

This game began as a promising pitching duel between Morang and Hall-Dale sophomore Ryan Leach. The two right-handers breezed through the first three innings without allowing a run. But the visiting Ramblers got to Leach for a couple of runs in the fourth inning and broke the game open with five runs in the fifth.

Morang, though, continued to breeze, mixing his pitches with a hesitation delivery which comes to a halt at the top.

"I feel comfortable when I get to my balance point like that," Morang said.

Morang tired in the seventh and final inning when he gave up a run, but he gutted out a complete game win, finishing with four strikeouts and a walk on 94 pitches.

"You've got to like the way he was coming in with the first-pitch strikes, staying ahead of those batters, very efficient," Winthrop coach Marc Fortin said,

The Ramblers, who expect to contend for Class C honors this season, were still smarting from their first loss of the season Monday against Livermore Falls.

"That was definitely a wakeup call," senior shortstop Dave Ricker said. "I think this game got everybody's confidence up. We played really well defensively and all-around I just think everybody just played as well as they can."

Winthrop finished with 11 hits without committing an error. Catcher Jordan Conant drove in three runs with a pair of sacrifice flies and a double, while Ricker and Riley Cobb each added two hits and Forrest Dwyer singled home a pair of runs in the five-run fifth.

The Bulldogs broke Morang's shutout in the seventh when Josh Acedo was hit by a pitch and eventually scored on a ground ball. Center fielder Kyle Wright made two strong defensive plays, throwing Conant out at third following a fly ball in the fourth and spearing Cobb's gapper to left-center in the sixth.

Gary Hawkins -- 621-5638

ghawkins@centralmaine.com

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