BANGOR – Hampden Academy baseball coach Marc Halsted may have put it best in trying to describe Bangor pitcher Jeremy Karam after Friday night’s game:

“He’s in a groove this year. Right now, he’s in a higher league,” said the former UMaine player, whose Broncos dropped to 5-8. “Tonight he just went out and took care of business.”

Business was very good for Karam at Mansfield Stadium Friday as he allowed one walk and one hit while striking out 12 in six innings of work and leading his Rams to their 12th win in 13 games with a 7-0 decision over Hampden.

And according to him, he did it without his best stuff.

“I pitched well, but after a long layoff, my elbow was a little tender. It wasn’t anything serious, but it took me awhile to get going,” said the Rams lefthander.

It took him about two innings to get his fastball working satisfactorily, but pinpoint location and a knee-buckling curve kept the Broncos at bay. Karam (5-0) said his accuracy has been a surprising strength for him this season.

“That’s been the big thing for him this year,” said Rams coach Bob Kelley. “For a lefthander, he does a great job. His fastball is almost always down by the knees.”

Karam also tamed the Broncos with his bat, hitting a double and single with one RBI in four at-bats.

“I’ve been working with coach trying to keep my front shoulder in and my chin on my shoulder. It’s helped me cut down on my swing,” he said.

Karam was just one of Bangor’s offensive stars. Second baseman Jim Shea led the team with three singles and an RBI, and third baseman Justin Libbey had two singles and an RBI.

Bangor jumped on Hampden early with five runs in the second inning on five hits, the biggest of which was No. 9 hitter Chris Bombardier’s two-run double to right with one out. Only two of the runs were earned as Hampden committed two errors in the inning.

Despite being shut out and losing a second time to Karam, Halsted found reasons to be happy about his young team’s effort.

“That’s really not a bad ballgame for us,” Halsted said. “We just had the one inning where we fell apart, but it was a pretty competitive effort against a good, veteran team.”

The Broncos managed just three total hits, two of which came against reliever Travis Brooker in the seventh. Brooker also struck out two and closed the game out with a groundout.

After early trouble, HA starter Ryan King settled down in the middle innings and made some athletic fielding plays off the mound.

Another solid defensive effort was turned in by Bangor catcher Shawn Bouchard, who made several great stops of hard-to-handle pitches and foul balls.

Rams 7, Broncos 0

Hampden (5-8) Bangor (12-1)

Name ab r h bi Name ab r h bi

Tardif, lf 3 0 0 0 Baird, cf 3 0 0 0

Adams, ss 3 0 1 0 Johnson, 1b 4 2 1 0

Davis, cf 3 0 1 0 Shea, 2b 3 0 2 1

Tyler, dh 0 0 0 0 Karam, p 3 0 2 1

King, p 1 0 0 0 a-Worcester 0 0 0 0

Williams, p 0 0 0 0 Brooker, p 0 0 0 0

b-Dalton 1 0 0 0 Libbey, 3b 4 0 2 1

Tribou, 1b 2 0 0 0 Sullivan, dh 3 0 0 0

c-Bruschi 1 0 1 0 Anderson, lf 0 0 0 0

Lacey, c 1 0 0 0 d-Curran 1 0 0 0

e-Jackson 1 0 0 0 Bouchard, c 3 1 1 0

Morrell, 2b 2 0 0 0 Vanidestine, rf 3 1 1 0

f-Brown 1 0 0 0 Bombardier, ss 2 1 1 2

Rawcliffe, rf 2 0 0 0

Oliver, 3b 2 0 0 0

Totals 23 0 3 0 Totals 30 7 11 5

a-ran for Karam in sixth

b-struck out for Williams in seventh

c-singled for Tribou in seventh

d-grounded out for Sullivan in sixth

e-flied out for Lacey in seventh

f-struck out for Morrell in seventh

Hampden 000 000 0 – 0

Bangor 050 101 x – 7

E – Tardif, Adams, Morrell 2B – Karam, Vanidestine, Bombardier LOB – Hampden 4; Bangor 8 SB – King S – Lacey

PITCHER IP H R ER BB SO

Hampden

King (L,2-3) 5 9 6 3 1 5

Williams 1 2 1 1 0 0

Bangor

Karam, (W,5-0) 6 1 0 0 1 12

Brooker 1 2 0 0 0 2

HBP – Baird by King, Karam by King WP – Williams BK – King TIME – 1:28 ATTENDANCE – 158