The Mountain Valley Conference baseball and softball seasons got underway Friday afternoon. The field conditions forced the Wolverines to move their home opener from Wiscasset to Farmingdale. Hall-Dale won both games that were called after four and half innings due to the mercy rule.

The boys’ game began with Matt Eckert drawing a leadoff walk on six pitches against Hall-Dale starter Logan Dupont. Dupont then settled in and struck out the next two Wolverine batters. The next batter Andrew Hendrickson hit a comebacker to the mound; Dupont scooped the ball up and made the throw to first to end the inning. Hall-Dale’s Austin Stebbins led off with a single in the home half of the first inning, stole second and scored on a base hit by Jake Brown, the number two batter. Brown then stole second and moved along to third on a pass ball.  The next batter drew a base on balls putting runners at the corners.

Akira Warren then lifted a fly ball to left that fell in front of the fielder scoring two more runs. Two walks followed and then Dean Jackman doubled, driving in both runners. It wasn’t long before the Bulldogs had batted through the order. By the time the inning ended, Hall-Dale had sent 25 batters to the plate and put 20 runs on the scoreboard. Stebbins had three hits in the inning, driving in three runs with a triple and a single. Warren knocked in two runs with a double and Cole Lockhart had a two-run double as well.

Hendrickson started and was relieved after pitching a third of the inning. Hayden Dunning got the final two outs striking out one batter. A number of those Bulldog runs were unearned, the result of throwing errors and other fielding mistakes.

The lack of outdoor practices due to the soggy field conditions and bad weather has taken its toll on the team. Wiscasset had all four of its preseason scrimmage games cancelled. The team is sure to improve once the weather warms up and it can get in some much needed practice on its home diamond.

Across the field in the girls game, the Bulldogs shut out the Wolverines 15-0. They scored five runs in the first inning, three in the third, three in the second and four in the fourth before the game was called.

The Wolverines turned a double play when second baseman Maeve Blodgett scooped up a grounder, tagged the runner going by and threw to Clara Mugnai, the first baseman. Lindsey Gordon made a nice running catch in left field. Kelsey Jones and Sydnie Thayer had base hits for Wiscasset and Thayer pitched all four innings for the Wolverines. Several members of the Wolverine team were absent, being away for school vacation.

Wiscasset Middle High School travels to Monmouth to face the Mustangs April 23, returning home to play Mt. Abram April 25. Both games start at 4 p.m.