Wildcats sweep Rams

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The Presque Isle Wildcats faced the prospect of opening the 1992 Class A baseball season on unfriendly turf – Garland Street Field in Bangor.

According to Wildcats coach Tim Olore, Presque Isle had never won a game at Garland Street Field. That should help make Monday’s visit to Bangor that much more memorable.

Jay Hayward rapped a pair of key doubles and scored the eventual winning run in the eighth inning of the second game while helping Presque Isle earn a doubleheader sweep of Bangor. The Wildcats won the opener 4-2, then rallied for a 10-8, eight-inning win the nightcap.

Presque Isle, which returned from its Florida trip late last week, broke the Garland Street jinx while getting off to a strong start of its season. The Rams slipped to 0-4 for the first time in the 24-year tenure of Bangor Coach Bob Kelley.

“The kids really turned it on,” Olore said. “We were down five runs to Bangor on their home field and this field’s never been kind to us. The kids came through.”

Presque Isle needed some late-inning offensive heroics to overcome the Rams in the second game. Bangor charged in front to an 8-3 lead with an eight-run fifth inning.

The Wildcats answered with six runs of their own to tie the game in the sixth. In the eighth, after the lights had been turned on, Hayward lined a leadoff double off the fence in left field.

He advanced on a groundout, then scored on a fielder’s choice grounder by Rob Wasson, who reached safely. Wasson then stole second and rode home when Aaron Buzza roped a triple to center field.

“We’ve never won on this field until today,” Hayward said. “Never, ever. I started off 0-for-6 and then came back (with two hits).”

Wasson picked up the win with four innings of three-hit relief. PI turned a game-ending 6-4-3 double play.

The visitors had taken a 3-0 lead in the third with three unearned runs of Rams starter Eric Murray. Two errors, a wild pitch, and a passed ball helped turn two walks, a single, and a fielder’s choice into three runs.

Bangor exploded in the fifth, finally chasing ‘Cats starter Scott Parsons. Tony Fernandez delivered two runs with a double. After Wasson came on, Mark Reed slammed a three-run double to the gap in right-center and Rob Estey an RBI triple to the same spot. Scott Young added a sacrifice fly that gave the Rams a short-lived 8-3 lead.

PI countered with Hayward’s towering, two-run double to left, a sac fly by Kevin Kinney and Wasson’s run-scoring single. Estey finally retired Buzza and Adam Daigle to end the rally, but the ‘Cats had evened the score.

Scott Kenney had two hits to complement Hayward’s doubles for the ‘Cats. Reed had two doubles for Bangor.

In the opener, senior righthander Kinney limited the Rams to four hits while keying the PI victory. Kinney struck out two and walked only one, affording Bangor only one big inning.

Leading 1-0 in the fifth, the Wildcats got all the runs they would need without benefit of a hit. Marshall White walked, stole second and took third when Young misplayed a soft liner to right by Kinney.

Kinney stole second and Wasson was walked intentionally to load the bases, but Bangor starter Reed hit Hersey with a pitch to force in a run. Parsons added a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.

Bangor rallied for two runs in the sixth when Reed cranked a leadoff home run over the fence in left. Estey followed, drilling a triple to right-center, and scored when Murray grounded out to second. But Kinney shut the door, retiring the last last five batters he faced.

Wasson had two hits for PI.

Wildcats 10, Rams 8 (8 inns.) (Second Game)

Presque Isle Bangor

Name ab r h bi Name ab r h bi

White, cf-c 4 1 1 0 Tennett, cf 2 1 0 0

Hayward, c-ss 4 2 2 2 J. Bowden, ss 3 1 0 1

Kinney, 3b 4 0 0 1 Reed, 2b 4 1 2 3

Wasson, ss-p 4 2 1 2 Estey, 3b-lf-p 4 1 1 1

Hersey, 1b 4 0 1 0 Murray, p-c 4 0 1 0

a-Archer 0 0 0 0 Young, rf 2 1 0 1

Buzza, rf-lf 3 0 1 1 Foley, p 0 0 0 0

M. Kenney, rf 0 0 0 0 Meagher, 1b 3 1 1 0

Parsons, p-rf 2 1 0 0 Fernandez,3b 3 1 1 2

Daigle, rf 1 0 0 0 Subjoc, c 0 0 0 0

S. Kenney, 2b 4 2 2 0 b-C.Bowden 0 0 0 0

Doughty, lf-cf 3 1 0 0 St.Pierre,rf-lf 2 1 0 0

c-Putnam 0 1 0 0

Totals 33 10 8 6 Totals 27 8 6 8

a-ran for Hersey in the fifth

b-ran for Fernandez in the fifth

c-walked for Doughty in the sixth

Presque Isle 030 005 02 – 10

Bangor 000 080 00 – 8

E – Parsons; J. Bowden 2, Murray, Meagher, St. Pierre 2B – Hayward 2; Murray, Reed 2, Fernandez 3B – Buzza LOB -PI 10; Bangor 4 DP – Hayward to S. Kenney to Hersey; Reed to Meagher SB – Buzza, Hayward, White, Wasson 2; S – Tennett SF – Kinney; Young

Pitching Summary

PITCHER IP H R BB SO

Presque Isle

Parsons 4 3 5 4 4

Wasson (W,1-0) 4 3 3 2 6

Bangor

Murray 4 1/3 2 3 6 7

Fernandez 2/3 1 2 1 0

Foley 1/3 2 2 0 0

Estey (L,0-2) 2 2/3 3 3 2 1

HBP – Hayward (by Murray) WP – Parsons, Wasson; Murray, Estey PB – Subjoc TIME -3:02

Parsons pitched to five batters in the fifth

Wildcats 4, Rams 2 (First Game)

Presque Isle Bangor

Name ab r h bi Name ab r h bi

White, c 2 2 1 0 Tennett, cf 4 0 0 0

Hayward, 1b 4 0 0 0 Masters, ss 3 0 0 0

Kinney, p 3 1 0 0 Reed, p-2b 3 1 1 1

Wasson, ss 3 0 2 1 Estey, 3b-lf 3 1 1 0

Hersey, 1b 2 1 1 2 Murray, dh 3 0 1 1

Parsons, lf-rf 3 0 0 1 St. Pierre,lf 0 0 0 0

Doughty, cf 3 0 1 0 Brown, p 0 0 0 0

M. Kenney, rf 1 0 0 0 Foley, p 0 0 0 0

Buzza, rf-lf 1 0 0 0 Young, rf 3 0 1 0

S. Kenney, 2b 3 0 1 0 Meagher, 1b 3 0 0 0

a-Archer 0 0 0 0 J.Bowden,3b 2 0 0 0

Subjoc, c 2 0 0 0

b-Fernandez 1 0 0 0

Totals 25 4 6 4 Totals 27 2 4 2

a-ran for S. Kenney in the sixth

b-flied out for Subjoc in the seventh

Presque Isle 100 020 1 – 4

Bangor 000 002 0 – 2

E – S. Kenney; Young 2B – White; Young 3B – Estey HR – Hersey (1); Reed (1) LOB -PI 9; Bangor 5 SB – Doughty, White, Kinney S – White SF – Parsons

Pitching Summary

PITCHER IP H R BB SO

Presque Isle

Kinney (W,1-0) 7 4 2 1 2

Bangor

Reed (L,0-1) 4 2/3 4 3 5 7

Brown 2/3 1 0 1 0

Foley 1 2/3 1 1 0 1

HBP – Hersey (by Reed); Bowden (by Kinney) TIME -2:06