MacFarland key to Trenton win despite timeoff

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ELLSWORTH – Trenton pitcher Matt MacFarland had just taken a weak swing at a sweeping Jason Redding curve to fall behind 0-2 in the count in the fourth inning of their Zone 1 American Legion baseball opener against Calais.

But MacFarland hit the next pitch into the gap in right-center field for a run-scoring double and a second run scored on a fielder’s interference call as Trenton built an 8-4 lead and hung on for a 10-6 triumph.

“I moved up in the box in case he threw me another curve. I wanted to hit it before it broke,” said MacFarland. “But he threw me a fastball that was a little outside.”

MacFarland was the first hitter to face Redding, who replaced the injured Josh Thornton. Thornton was struck right above the right elbow by a line drive off the bat of Torrey McDonald. Thornton left the game to go to a local hospital for X-rays.

MacFarland pitched six innings of five-hit, six-run baseball to notch the win. He struggled with his control, walking six and hitting a batter. He fanned four.

“This is the first time I’ve thrown in two weeks,” said Mount Desert Island High School’s MacFarland, an All-Zone 1 second-team choice a year ago. “I was just trying to get my stuff back.”

Geoff Mitchell’s two-run single off MacFarland staked Calais to a 2-0 lead in the first inning but the Acadians answered with four in the bottom of the first and got two more in the second to build a 6-2 lead.

In the bottom of the first, Rick McDonald’s base hit, Seth Cole’s RBI double, a walk, and an infield error set the stage for Josh Sadlier’s ground-ball, two-run single to left and Toby Cole’s sacrifice fly.

A walk, McDonald’s long RBI double to left and Seth Cole’s RBI single accounted for the second-inning runs.

Calais got two back in the third on singles by Josh Porter and Redding, a run-producing double-play grounder and a wild pitch.

But Trenton got those back in the fourth on singles by Jason Pinkham and Torrey McDonald and McFarland’s double on which Calais shortstop Glen Wood was ruled to have interfered with McDonald rounding second. McDonald was awarded home.

Pinkham singled home Josh Weed, who had doubled, to make it 9-4 in the fifth but Josh Peters’ RBI fielder’s choice and Sean Lynch’s RBI single cut it to 9-6 in the top of the sixth. Torrey McDonald’s bad-hop, inside-the-park homer, a sinking liner that took a bad hop over center fielder Porter’s head, made it 10-6 in the sixth.

Aaron Brown pitched a scoreless seventh inning for the Acadians.

Seth Cole, Pinkham and the McDonald brothers had two hits each for Trenton, which turned two doubleplays and played errorless ball behind MacFarland and Brown.

The Acadians had 11 hits.

“Everyone in our order, one through nine, can hit,” said Seth Cole.

Acadians 10, Suns 6

Calais (0-1) Trenton (1-0)

Name ab r h bi Name ab r h bi

Thornton, p 2 1 0 0 R.McD’n’ld, cf 4 2 2 1

Bailey, 2b 1 0 0 0 S. Cole, ss 4 2 2 2

Porter, cf 3 1 1 0 T.McD’n’ld, 2b 3 3 2 1

Redding, 3b-p 3 2 1 0 MacFarland, p 4 0 1 2

Wood, ss 2 0 0 0 a-Kiley 0 0 0 0

b-Foutchey 1 0 1 0 Brown, p 1 0 0 0

Mitchell, c-1b 3 0 1 2 Donaldson, lf 3 1 0 0

c-Tribou 0 0 0 0 Sadlier, 1b 3 0 1 2

Ramsdell, lf 3 1 0 0 T. Cole, 3b 2 0 0 1

Frgrsn, 1b-3b 2 1 1 0 Worcester, c 2 0 0 0

Peters, 2b-c 2 0 0 1 Weed, c 1 1 1 0

Lynch, cf 2 0 1 1 Pinkham, rf 2 1 2 1

Totals 24 6 6 4 Totals 29 10 11 10

a – ran for MacFarland in 4th inning

b – singled for Wood in 7th inning

c – ran for Mitchell in 6th inning

Calais 202 002 0 – 6

Trenton 420 211 x – 10

E – Wood 2, Ramsdell, Peters 2B – R. McDonald, S. Cole, MacFarland, Weed HR – T. McDonald LOB – Calais 5, Trenton 4 DP – T. McDonald-S. Cole-Sadlier; S. Cole-T. McDonald-Sadlier SB – Thornton; T. McDonald, Pinkham S – Peters SF – T. Cole

PITCHER IP H R ER BB SO

Calais

Thornton (L, 0-1) 3 2/3 7 8 6 2 3

Redding 2 1/3 4 2 2 0 1

Trenton

MacFarland (W,1-0) 6 5 6 6 6 4

Brown 1 1 0 0 0 2

HBP – Porter (by MacFarland) WP – MacFarland; Thornton 3 TIME – 2:02