Thetford
The sophomore struck out seven with no walks and one hit batter.
“Last game I pitched, my arm felt like a noodle at the end,” Nichols said. “But I felt good today.”
Nichols threw about 98 pitches, according to Panthers’ assistant coach Shawn Thurston, who was at the helm on Thursday in place of head coach Phil Chaput, who was serving a one-game suspension after being ejected for arguing a play at home plate during a recent loss at Randolph.
Thurston was a senior on Thetford’s squad in 2009, Chaput’s first year leading the Panthers. The TA assistant seemed to communicate effectively with his starter against Oxbow.
“The game plan was to keep (pitches) low the whole game,” Nichols said. “(Thurston) kept reminding me to keep it low, keep it low, and it just kind of clicked. … Every time I threw (pitches) up, they were on to it.”
Thurston said he would have lifted Nichols in the seventh if any Oxbow runners got aboard, but that wasn’t necessary with the guests going down 1-2-3 for the second time on the afternoon. It occurred in the fourth and nearly happened again in the fifth, as well, but Jackson Schramm reached base on a dropped third strike.
The Panthers (4-2) were led offensively by Owen Deffner’s 4-for-4 performance. The sophomore first baseman was pumped up and vocal following his two RBIs in the third inning, which tied the Capital League contest at 5 runs apiece.
“We’re really young,” Deffner said in reference to the Panthers’ high percentage of underclassmen. “But we know how to play baseball as a group. We’re really excited to be playing together and we’re having a lot of fun.”
Nichols echoed Deffner’s sentiments.
“Our energy this season has been really great in the dugout,” Nichols said. “Even when we’re down, I think we’re more confident than we have been in years past.”
Thetford got two RBIs from Connor Brown, who also triggered the Panthers’ first run with astute baserunning in the first inning. With two outs and leadoff hitter Ryan Pepe on third base, Brown took a hefty lead at first and drew a throw from Oxbow pitcher Lincoln Illsley. Brown took off for second, was safe on the throw and Pepe trotted home, beating a last-ditch throw to the dish.
Oxbow was productive early, with Schramm driving in leadoff man Jace Page in the first inning. Orin Mahikoa hit a solo home run to center field in the Olympians’ second, then Schramm, Jake Stimson and Mahikoa drove in runs on three consecutive at-bats in the third inning before the guests’ offense cooled.
Oxbow (3-3) got 5⅓ innings from starting pitcher Illsley, who was relieved by Cody Grant.
Thetford took the lead in the fourth when Aiden Cudhea drove in Nathan O’Donnell, who drew a walk to lead off the inning then stole second. Cudhea advanced to second on Oxbow’s late throw home. Brown then followed with an RBI single that gave Nichols a two-run cushion (7-5) going into the fifth.
The Panthers’ insurance runs came in the sixth inning when Pepe, Cudhea and Brown each hit singles before the first out was made. Lawson Ouellette drove in a run then Thetford scored on a pass ball before Seth Boyce drove in the final run of the afternoon.
Oxbow, which will host a rematch with the Panthers May 25, got a solid catching performance from Stimson, one of its seniors.
“They hit the ball really well and their team had good attitude,” Stimson said in a brief assessment of his team’s loss.
Notes: With Thursday’s comeback, the Panthers matched their win total from last season. … They will host U-32 Tuesday. … Oxbow hosts Lyndon on Saturday. … Thurston seemed to settle into his role as an acting head coach. “It was a little nerve-racking in the beginning,” Thurston said. “But after the first couple innings, I got in the groove a bit, felt confident, thought I made good decisions.”