Lunn hits game-winner

    Hodgdon’s Nick Lunn was hitting the ball hard and long, but each time, Shead fielders would frustrate him with a catch. But, that wouldn’t be the case in the bottom of the seventh last Tuesday in Hodgdon.
    “Nick had not been hitting well that game, but stepped up huge,” said Hodgdon coach Rob Smith.
    Lunn delivered a two-run single with one out completing a three-run inning to lift the No. 2 Hawks to a 6-5 quarterfinal victory over visiting No. 7 Shead.
Houlton Pioneer Times photo/Gloria Austin
HAPPY — Nick Lunn is embraced by Chris Hudson, as the rest of the Hodgdon Hawks come out to celebrate Lunn’s game-winning hit June 5 against Shead in the Class D quarterfinals.
    The game was scoreless through the first two innings, but Shead drove in four runs in the third before Hodgdon’s Tyler Sherman could cut the lead in half in the bottom of the fifth with a two-run double, 4-2. Each team plated a run in the sixth, as Shead remained ahead 5-3 before the Hawks made their seventh-inning comeback.
    In the seventh, Drew Gough hit his second single of the game and scored on Chris Hudson’s double. Then Erik Ryan singled and stole second putting runners in scoring position for Lunn’s game-winning hit.
    “The team was very excited to come back and win the quarterfinal game,” said Smith. “I had the stop sign up for Erik at third base until I saw Tom Collins of Shead bobble the ball in center field. This kid had made some unbelievable plays and I figured he would make a clean play and come up throwing. He missed the ball and I sent Erik home to score the winning run. It was special to him being his first playoff game and being the only senior. It was an experience for him to score the winning run.”
Houlton Pioneer Times photo/Gloria Austin
GAME-WINNER — As Shead’s catcher reacts, so does Hodgdon runner Erik Ryan, the Hawks only senior, who scored the game-winning run on Nick Lunn’s hit in the bottom of the seventh.
    The Hawks went from being an 0-16 team Smith’s first year to reaching a number-two ranking in the MPA Heal Points.
    “Their hard work and perseverance paid off and the team was rewarded with a playoff win,” he added.
    Shead was led by Ethan Stevens with a two-run double, Nick Barnes added a run-scoring double and Tom Stanhope had an RBI single.
Houlton Pioneer Times photo/Gloria Austin
UPENDED — A Shead runner collides with Hodgdon catcher Drew Gough at the plate after scoring during last week’s quarterfinal  game.