Bangor East wins District 3 title

Peter Currie and Mike Arsenault combined to pitch a no-hitter and Josh Pressley drove in three runs to power Bangor East to the District 3 Little League Championship via a 6-0 win over Houlton at Taylor Field in Bangor Monday night.

Bangor East’s second straight win over Houlton in the best-of-three series set up a first-round clash with District 2 champion Waldo County in the opening round of Saturday’s State Little League Tournament at Sanford. Bangor East and Waldo will play at 1 p.m., Saturday, followed at 4 p.m. by the clash between Falmouth and Auburn Suburban. The double-elimination event continues all next week, with host Sanford drawing a first-round bye.

Pressley led Bangor East into the state tourney by belting a solo homer and a single. Pressley also had a three-run homer taken away when his teammates mistakenly passed each other on the bases, resulting in an out.

Meanwhile, Bangor East starter Currie and reliever Arsenault combined to strike out nine Houlton hitters. Great defensive plays by first baseman Jamie Russell and second baseman Jamie Gallant took away two potential Houlton hits in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Arsenault contributed at the plate with a solo homer and two singles to drive in two runs for Bangor East, which has gone 8-1 in all-star tourney play to this point. Tom Carey doubled and singled.

Jake Cowperthwaite took the pitching loss for Houlton, which finished 7-2 in all-star competition.

Bangor East 111 021 – 6 10 0 Houlton 000 000 – 0 0 0

Currie, Arsenault (3) and C. Nill, Brown (3); Cowperthwaite, Weston (4) and Britton