Unflappable Corey prevails

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BREWER – As her Brewer teammates struggled to shake off nine months of fielding rust in one chilly season-opening afternoon, Tami Corey did what any good pitcher would do.

Fret? No. Worry? Nope. Lecture the offending fielder? No way.

Corey had other plans. All she did was toss on a pair of mittens, chase down a few foul balls to keep warm, and wait for something good to happen.

Eventually, it did.

The Witches manufactured three runs on two hits in the third, scored two more in the fourth, and cruised to a 6-2 win over rival Bangor in a mutual opener.

“I think we have confidence in each other and we’re learning to work through those things,” Corey said.

Brewer coach Kelly Cookson said that despite a six-error effort she thinks will prove to be atypical for this year’s Witches, her senior pitcher was unflappable.

“She doesn’t change her emotions,” Cookson said. “She just puts her game face on and goes for it. She knows she has some defense behind her and she knows they’re gonna get her some runs.”

The Witches pushed three unearned runs across in the third by sandwiching two hits – singles by Katie LaChance and Jenny Higgins – around a pair of Bangor errors.

And whenever the Rams threatened – they stranded 10 runners in the game, including two each in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings – Brewer came up with a play to end the uprising.

In the fourth a groundout to second baseman Sara Agouab stranded Megan Huckins at third. In the fourth Agouab flagged down a flare in shallow right to strand two Rams. Agouab and Corey fielded grounders to end subsequent threats in the fifth and sixth, and Corey left two more runners on base when she ended the game on a strikeout, her third.

On offense, the Witches were paced by Corey (triple, single) and LaChance (two singles).

Bangor got a double and a single from Huckins and two singles from Ashley Tower.

“We knew we could hit the ball, but we just didn’t have anybody on when we got the hits,” Bangor coach Lisa Richards said. “And then, when we did get people on, they made the key play.”

Witches 6, Rams 2

Bangor (0-1) Brewer (1-0)

Name ab r h bi Name ab r h bi

Tuck, 3b 4 1 1 0 Corey, p 4 1 2 0

Tower, ss 4 1 2 0 Wing, ss 3 1 1 0

Dube, c 4 0 0 0 LaChance, 3b 4 1 2 1

Huckins, dh 4 0 2 1 Agouab, 2b 4 1 0 0

Holland, 2b 0 0 0 0 Smith, 1b 2 2 0 0

Pinkerton, 1b 4 0 1 1 Higgins, rf 3 0 1 1

Warner, cf 4 0 1 0 Brooks, dh 2 0 1 0

Jimmo, p 4 0 1 0 Poole, lf 0 0 0 0

Spellman, rf 2 0 0 0 McEwen, c 2 0 1 0

a-Boyorak 0 0 0 0 DeFillip, cf 2 0 0 1

Strout, lf 3 0 0 0

Totals 33 2 8 2 Totals 26 6 8 3

a-struck out for Spellman in 6th

Bangor 000 010 1 – 2

Brewer 003 210 x – 6

E – Tuck, Holland; Poole, Wing 3, LaChance 2 2B – Huckins 3B – Corey LOB – Bangor 10, Brewer 8 DP – Wing-Smith SB – McEwen S – Wing, Brooks

PITCHER IP H R ER BB SO

Bangor

Jimmo (L, 0-1) 6 8 6 3 4 3

Brewer

Corey (W, 1-0) 7 8 2 1 0 3

WP – Jimmo 3; Corey PB – Dube TIME – 1:37 ATTENDANCE – 100 (est.)