Old Town’s freshmen pitchers step up versus Ellsworth in shutout victory

The Old Town Coyotes needed only three hits and two runs to beat Ellsworth on Friday night, shutting out the Eagles 2-0 in Old Town.

A rematch of last year’s Class B North regional title game, it was the debut of freshman pitchers Julian Duty and Tyler Priest which spearheaded Friday’s victory for the Coyotes, who combined to throw eight strikeouts over seven innings of shutout ball.

Duty got the start for the reigning state champs (1-1) in their second game of the season, keeping the Eagles (3-1) at bay for five and a third innings, before Priest relieved him in the top of the sixth with two men on and one out.

Priest promptly induced a riveting double play to end the inning, striking out junior Thomas Jude in four pitches, as senior catcher Jackson Lizotte gunned down a streaking junior Ridge Weatherbee at second base with senior Alex McCannell applying the tag.

“It feels great, we just powered the strike zone,” Duty said. “Jackson’s a game-changer. He’s a great catcher.”

The inning prior, Old Town veterans McCannell and Lizotte also made their presence felt in the batter’s box, driving in the only two runs of the game.

First, McCannell (1-for-2) smacked a two-out double off Ellsworth junior Brayden King (five innings, six strikeouts, three hits, four walks), scoring senior pinch-runner Carter Sevigny from second and advancing senior shortstop Preston Vose (1-for-2, one walk) to third. Two batters later, Lizotte (0-for-1, one walk) drew a hit-by-pitch from King, sending Vose to home plate.

“Alex really clutched up and did his job,” Old Town head coach Justin Crisafulli said. “We were sending Julian and Ty to pitch two innings each, but with freshmen there really are no expectations. When they throw like that, you keep them in — they really worked the strike zone well.”

In the top of the seventh, the Eagles put the pressure on versus Priest, but Crisafulli’s confidence in his freshmen paid off.

Priest conceded one-out singles to juniors Hollis Grindal (1-for-3) and Luke Horne (1-for-3) at the bottom of Ellsworth’s order, but got the third and final groundout with the bases loaded to lock down the win for his team.

“We had our shots throughout the game, but we didn’t cash in on them,” Ellsworth head coach Dan Curtis said. “Those are two young pitchers that are gonna be fantastic.”

Next up, Old Town will play rival Orono (1-1) away on May 1 at 4:30 p.m., and Ellsworth will look to start a new winning streak on April 30 versus Hermon at 4:30 p.m. in Ellsworth.