Bangor Legion win tightens race

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It was Hermon High School Night at Brewer’s Heddericg Field and the Bangor American Legion team reaped the benefits.

Levant’s Roy Peary spun a four-hit shutout and his former Hermon High School teammate, Carmel’s Matt Alaimo, went three-for-three and scored a pair of runs to lead Bangor to a 3-0 Zone 1 win over Brewer on Wednesday evening.

Peary and Alaimo graduated from Hermon High this past spring.

The win kept Bangor’s remote State AL Tournament hopes alive and dealt a big blow to Brewer’s state tourney aspirations. Both teams are now 13-8.

Bangor’s seventh consecutive win and Old Town-Orono’s 6-2 win over Calais on Wednesday also ensured that Old Town-Orono will get the opportunity to defend its state championship. The Twins are 17-6 and will finish either first or second in the zone.

Righthander Peary, now 5-0, struck out two and walked two in registering his second shutout of the season. Peary threw 47 strikes among his tidy 75-pitch outing and induced 12 ground ball outs including a pair of double plays.

“I didn’t have much pop on my fastball but it had good movement and that’s what I depend upon anyway,” said Peary. “I try to get a lot of ground balls. I have a lot of confidence in my defense.”

“His fastball had a lot of movement,” said Bangor catcher Justin Shaw, another Hermon High product.

“He spotted the ball real well. He doesn’t give you any good pitches to hit,” said Brewer third baseman Brent Emerson.

“He pitches with a lot of heart. He’s a real good pitcher,” said first baseman Tiger Stewart, Brewer’s lone repeat hitter with two singles.

Alaimo, meanwhile, was involved in all three runs.

“I’ve cut down my swing and I’ve felt real good at the plate lately,” said Alaimo.

Bangor got single runs in the first, third and seventh inning off hard luck loser Ben Jenkins, 4-2, who pitched a six-hitter with four walks and three strikeouts.

In the first inning, Peary grounded a single to center; Alaimo lined a single to left and, with two outs, Jenkins hit Eric Murray and Shaw to force in a run.

In the third, Alaimo reached on an infield single, raced all the way to third on Mark Reed’s groundout to third and scored when Tony Fernandez lofted an 0-2 pitch to center field for a sacrifice fly.

In the seventh, Alaimo looped a two-out single to center, went to third on Mark Reed’s long ground rule double to center and alertly scored on a wild pitch that bounced up the first base line.

Bangor 3, Brewer 0

Bangor Brewer

Name ab r h bi Name ab r h bi

Peary, p 4 1 1 0 Solovei, lf 3 0 1 0

Alaimo, cf 3 2 3 0 Smith, ss 2 0 0 0

Reed, ss 4 0 1 0 Hodgins, dh 3 0 0 0

Fernandez, 3b 2 0 0 1 Wentworth, c 3 0 0 0

a-Scripture 0 0 0 0 Jenkins, p 3 0 0 0

Murray, rf 2 0 0 0 Crossman, rf 3 0 0 0

J. Shaw, c 2 0 0 1 Stewart, 1b 3 0 2 0

Kinney, 1b 2 0 1 0 b-Dority 0 0 0 0

c-C. Bowden 0 0 0 0 Emerson, 3b 3 0 0 0

J. Bowden, 2b 2 0 0 0 Tardif, 2b 2 0 1 0

Jamieson, lf 3 0 0 0 Brigalli, cf 2 0 0 0

Totals 24 3 6 2 Totals 27 0 4 0

a – ran for Fernandez in 7th inning

b – ran for Stewart in 7th inning

c – ran for Kinney in 4th inning

Bangor 101 000 1 – 3

Brewer 000 000 0 – 0

E – Fernandez, Murray; Jenkins, Wentworth 2B – Reed LOB – Bangor 8; Brewer 5 DP – J. Bowden to Reed to Kinney; Fernandez to J. Bowden to Kinney; Jenkins to Stewart to Smith SB – Alaimo, Scripture, Murray; Tardif S – J. Bowden SF – Fernandez

Pitching Summary

PITCHER IP H R ER BB SO

Bangor

Peary (W, 5-0) 7 4 0 0 2 2

Brewer

Jenkins (L, 4-2) 7 6 3 3 4 3

HBP – Murray (by Jenkins); J. Shaw (by Jenkins) WP – Jenkins TIME -2:08

Defending state American Legion champion Old Town-Orono qualified for the state tournament for the third time in four years by virtue of a 6-2 win over Calais on Wednesday and Bangor’s 3-0 win over Brewer.

Skowhegan took a step closer to clinching the other state tourney spot from Zone 1 with a 3-0 win over Penquis.

Skowhegan is now 16-5 with a Thursday night game in Orono against the 17-6 Twins and a Saturday home doubleheader against Brewer. Skowhegan needs one win in its last three games to sew up the other state tourney spot. Bangor and Brewer, both 13-8, have remote chances.

Old Town-Orono 6, Calais 2

At Orono, Ron Coombs’ two-run single and Andy Trice’s RBI base hit keyed a four-run first inning rally that erased a 2-0 deficit and paced the Twins to their win.

Righthander Jason Clifford, now 4-0, went the distance for the win. He fanned three and walked three.

Brian Wickett’s single, Marc Halsted’s double and a walk set the stage for the first inning rally. Coombs’ two-run single, a run-producing double steal and Trice’s base hit gave the Twins the lead for good.

Brian Chamberlain and Paul Napoleoni had staked 3-19 Calais to its lead with RBI singles in the first.

Marc Halsted had a single and double and Brian Wickett singled twice.

Chris Hashey had an RBI triple in the two-run fifth inning for the winners.

Chamberlain had two base hits for Calais and Justin Tapley went the distance on the mound.

Calais 200 000 0 2 7 4 Old Town-Orono 400 020 x 6 9 0

Tapley and Martell; Clifford and Coombs.

Skowhegan 3, Penquis 0

At Skowhegan, John Alward and Garrett Quinn combined on a four-hit shutout and Adam Fitzpatrick had a triple, a double and an RBI to lead Skowhegan to its win.

Alward struck out six and walked two before Quinn came on with two on and nobody out in the sixth.

Quinn pitched out of the jam and finished up for the save. He fanned two.

Carl Larson had two hits for 2-21 Penquis. Matt Thomas and Deron Smith collaborated on a four-hitter for Penquis.

Penquis 000 000 0 0 4 1 Skowhegan 001 011 x 3 4 1

Thomas, Smith (6) and Pineo; Alward, Quinn (6) and Jarvais