Zone 4 pitchers notch two wins Orono, Trenton drop openers

loading...

SANFORD – After accounting for 92 of the record 145 runs scored in the American Legion Zone 1 tournament, Orono and Trenton found runs a little harder to come by on the first day of the American Legion State Baseball Tournament, thanks mainly to the efforts of two Zone 4 pitchers.

Saturday night, Kerry Robillard threw a six-hitter and walked two to outduel Trenton’s Matt McFarland and lead Cumberland Legion to a 3-1 victory. In the first game of the day, Travis Ferrante hung on for a gutsy performance in Andrews Post of Portland’s 8-6 win over Orono.

Robillard got some help in the form of two unearned runs in the fourth, runs that would prove to be the difference in the game.

The runs resulted from a leadoff grounder by Tim Frend. Shortstop Seth Cole made a nice stab of the sharply hit ball but drew first baseman Mike Sirois off the bag with the throw. One flyout, two singles, and a sacrifice fly later, Cumberland was up 2-0.

“If we make that play, they don’t get any runs… and we go extra innings possibly,” said Trenton coach Charlie Farley. “But I think this was the best game and the two best pitching performances of the day, and I’d like another shot at them.”

Trenton’s big chance came in the seventh. After two quick outs, three straight singles by Toby Cole, Jason Pinkham, and Rick McDonald broke the shutout. Cole then walked to load the bases, but Robillard escaped further distress by retiring Adam Meyer on a first-pitch groundout.

“That was huge for us and Kerry,” said Cumberland coach Bob Gilman. “But this is a veteran group and I think those are situations where experience makes all the difference.”

Despite the win, Robillard (7-1) was disappointed in his outing, but credited his defense for bailing him out when he made a pitching mistake.

“Really, nothing was working real well for me,” Robillard said. “They hit the ball hard, but the defense was huge.”

On Saturday morning, Ferrante’s gauge was almost on empty after throwing 103 pitches in six innings. And after Orono scored two runs in the seventh to take its first lead (5-4) and force Ferrante to throw another 26 pitches, everyone at the ballpark knew it.

But the starting pitcher for Andrews wasn’t about to leave the game meekly. Despite coach Mike McCallum’s inclination to take his starter out, Ferrante’s lobbying persuaded him to stick with him awhile longer.

“I told him not to take me out,” said Ferrante, now 4-2. “He knows I’m the kind of pitcher who comes back because I don’t let myself get down… He knows.”

After Andrews got both runs back in the eighth on a Steve DuPerre home run and and RBI triple by Derek Meader, Ferrante rewarded his coach’s patience by setting down the side on six pitches in the eighth. But after even after Andrews scored some insurance runs in the top of the ninth to make it 8-5, Ferrante made McCallum sweat it out in the last half-inning.

After retiring leadoff man Tom Hite for the first out, Ferrante gave up three straight singles to load the bases ahead of Orono’s Aaron Civiello, who was 3-for-4 on the day with a double and an RBI. As McCallum squirmed on the bench, Ferrante struck Civiello out on a 3-2 fastball for the second out, but walked pinch-hitter Seth Obed to force in Orono’s sixth run and put the tying run in scoring position.

“It was nerve-wracking, but I know he’ll come back. He throws strikes and he does the job somehow,” McCallum said.

With a little help from his friends, center fielder Tom Zack in particular, Ferrante did the job. Jamie Cote ripped Ferrante’s first pitch for a sinking liner to shallow center which Zack was able to track down for a rally-ending shoestring catch.

Ferrante immediately sought out McCallum after the last out.

“I said `Thanks for keeping me in,’ ” said a flushed Ferrante, who was understandably drained after throwing 158 pitches, 99 for strikes.

Andrews 8, Orono 6

(Saturday Morning)

Andrews (20-8) Orono (19-6)

Name ab r h bi Name ab r h bi

Zack, cf 5 1 2 0 Hite, cf 5 0 1 0

Meader, rf 5 0 1 1 Means, ss 4 2 2 0

Melanson, c 4 0 0 0 Daniels, 3b 5 1 3 1

Sa.Willims,1b 3 2 0 0 Kennedy, 1b 4 1 2 1

M. Walker, 3b 4 2 3 1 a-J. Turcotte 0 0 0 0

J.D. Wlkr, dh 4 0 0 0 Civiello, lf 5 2 3 1

Si. Williams, lf 5 1 3 1 Allen, p 3 0 1 0

DuPerre, ss 5 2 2 2 Mooney, p 0 0 0 0

Morris, 2b 4 0 2 2 b-Obed 0 0 0 1

Cote, rf 5 0 0 1

Folsom, c 2 0 0 0

c-Emerson 1 0 0 0

A. Turcotte, c 1 0 0 0

Crockett, 2b 4 0 0 0

Totals 39 8 13 7 Totals 39 6 12 5

a-ran for Kennedy in ninth

b-walked for Mooney in ninth

c-grounded out for Folsom in sixth

Andrews Post 031 000 022 – 8

Orono 010 101 201 – 6

E – Zack, Melanson, M. Walker; Cote, Folsom 2, Crockett 2B – M. Walker, DuPerre; Daniels, Civiello 3B – Meader HR – DuPerre; Kennedy (7) LOB – Andrews 12, Orono 10 DP – Meader-Sa. Williams, DuPerre-Morris-Sa. Williams; Daniels-Crockett-Kennedy SB – J.D. Walker, Zack (3), Sa. Williams 2, Si. Williams 1, Morris 1; Civiello

PITCHER IP H R ER BB SO

Andrews

Ferrante (W, 5-2) 9 12 6 5 4 5

Orono

Allen (L, 5-2) 8 11 6 6 5 3

Mooney 1 2 2 2 2 0

WP – Ferrante; Allen 3 TIME – 2:35 ATTENDANCE – 119

Cumberland 3, Acadians 1

(Saturday Night)

Trenton (18-8) Cumberland Legion (18-8)

Name ab r h bi Name ab r h bi

McDonald, cf 5 0 1 1 Googins, 3b 4 0 0 0

S. Cole, ss 3 0 1 0 Einsiedler, ss 4 0 0 0

Meyer, 3b 4 0 1 0 Frend, rf-1b 3 1 1 0

Worcester, c 4 0 0 0 Robillard, p 4 0 1 1

Donaldson, lf 4 0 0 0 Whitely, c 3 0 1 0

Sadlier, dh 4 0 0 0 Wilson, lf 3 2 2 1

Sirois, 1b 4 0 0 0 Samsone, lf 0 0 0 0

T. Cole, 2b 4 1 1 0 Lemieux, 2b 2 0 2 1

Pinkham, rf 3 0 2 0 Anderson, 1b 3 0 0 0

Stewart, rf 1 0 0 0

Crane, cf 4 0 1 0

Totals 35 1 6 1 Totals 31 3 8 3

Trenton 000 000 100 – 1

Cumberland Legion 000 200 01x – 3

E – S. Cole, Meyer, Pinkham; Googins, Einsiedler 3B – Wilson LOB – Trenton 9, Cumberland 10 DP – McFarland-Sirois SF – Lemieux PITCHER IP H R ER BB SO

Trenton

McFarland (L, 4-4) 8 8 3 1 5 4

Cumberland

Robillard (W, 7-1) 9 6 1 1 2 5

WP – Robillard TIME – 2:14 ATTENDANCE – 187

Oxford Hills 8, Franklin County 4

The Vikings’ Charlie Buker upstaged the more-heralded Trevor Alexander on the mound by pitching a seven-hitter while striking out eight and walking five.

While Buker was keeping Franklin at bay, teammate Miguel Gonzalez led a 10-hit attack with a triple, single and two runs. Luke Cummings and Tim Jones each had two singles and an RBI.

Alexander, Brian Demshar, and Joe Hodgkins each had two singles and an RBI to lead Franklin.

(Saturday Afternoon) Franklin County (14-12) 000 001 003 – 4 7 2 Oxford Hills (20-4) 300 010 04x – 8 10 3

Alexander and Whittier; Buker and McLendon

Augusta 12, New Auburn 1

At Sanford, Dave Dostie pitched a five-hitter, striking out seven and walking four, to help lead Augusta into the winners’ bracket.

Aaron Young led a 12-hit Augusta attack with a double, three RBIs, and a stolen base. Josh Cushman doubled twice and drove in one run while Jake Castonguay doubled and singled for two RBIs. Jared Cushman chipped in with two singles.

For New Auburn, Greg Dumais had two singles and a double. Scott Corriveau drove in the lone run with a double in the seventh.

(Saturday Afternoon) New Auburn (18-6) 000 000 1 – 1 5 2 Augusta (23-2) 400 134 x – 12 12 2

Reid, Brown (5) and MacIntosh; Dostie and Brawn