2 weeks Ago
BRUNSWICK — The Brunswick High baseball committed as many errors as it had hits Tuesday, but the Dragons did just enough in the season opener to earn a win. Seniors Liam Scholl and Tyler Maxim each struck out five and combined on a one-hitter as Brunswick started its season with a 1-0 victory over Oxford Hills. The Dragons recorded three hits.
Scholl scored the only run on a passed ball in the bottom of the fourth. Scholl was playing five days after the death of his father, Michael. “I wanted to do it for him, get a win,” Scholl said.
“I know all the boys wanted to as well, so it was just great to happen.” Assistant coach Bill Pike, who filled in for head coach Matt Aceto, became emotional talking about Scholl. “To come in here with the guile and the command that he had, both offensively as well as pitching, is nothing short of miraculous,” Pike said.
“I couldn’t be more proud. He knew how to win, he controlled the strike zone and did everything that he’s capable of doing on a baseball field. With the tragedy that he’s dealing with, (it’s) amazing that he was able to separate that.
But it’s not that amazing, because he’s that kind of a kid. He’s just a special kid.” Scholl said he was thinking of his father throughout Tuesday’s game.
According to Liam, Michael wasn’t “the biggest baseball guy,” preferring outdoor activities like biking or skiing. But once the oldest son fell in love with the game, his father was right there with him. Michael filmed all of the righty’s outings, edited the videos, and sent them out to schools during the recruitment process.
“It’s hard,” said Scholl, who is committed to pitch at Salve Regina next year. “But I mean, to have a group of guys like this and to have all the support from the community and my teammates and my coaches, it’s great. But it’s always gonna be difficult.
” • Scholl struck out four of the first six batters. An error at second allowed Cam Pulkkinen to reach base, but he was caught in a rundown and tagged out after trying to steal second. • The Vikings had a runner in scoring position with two outs in the third and fourth innings, but Henry Blood’s defensive hustle on a grounder to first and another Scholl strikeout kept the game scoreless.
• Scholl’s single to shallow right and Blood’s slap hit up the middle put runners on the corners to start the bottom of the fourth. Scholl then scored standing up after a curveball got away from the catcher and rolled to the backstop. “We were lucky for that passed ball, but we were gonna find a way, no matter what, to get me in there,” Scholl said.
“Because obviously, we didn’t have very many base runners, and we knew it was gonna be a pitchers’ battle.” • Once again, Oxford Hills had runners in scoring position in the fifth and sixth, but timely strikeouts from Maxim prevented any damage. The right-handed reliever ended each of his three innings with a strikeout.
• Brunswick: Liam Scholl (1 for 2, BB, run; 4.0 IP, 5 Ks, 1 BB), Tyler Maxim (3.0 IP, 5 Ks, 1 H), Henry Blood (2-2, BB, 2 SBs) • Oxford Hills: Carson Stevens (4.
0 IP, 4 Ks, 3 hits, 2 BBs), Cassius Thibeault (2.0 IP, 3 Ks, BB), Carter Wyman (1 for 2, BB, SB) • “I mean, I probably shouldn’t say this, but I didn’t care about the hitting. I just wanted to pitch and get the (win).
Like, I didn’t really care about how well I did at the plate, but (on) the mound, it was nice. It felt good to get the (win).” — Brunswick senior Tyler Maxim • “I think we played well everywhere, except we didn’t hit.
And give their pitches some credit, they pitched a good game. We had situations where we could have scored some runs or just put the ball in play and we froze. I think we could have been more aggressive with two strikes, certainly, because we had quite a few strikeouts looking.
I think that was the key.” — Oxford Hills coach Shane Slicer Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it’s important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It’s a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion. You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use . More information is also found on our FAQs .
Show less Send questions/comments to the editors. « Previous.
