Falcons strike first in rivalry Dalton, Doucette lead Brewer over Bangor

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BANGOR – It was Bangor and Brewer on the diamond again Thursday night, but with players thrown together from six different schools, it wasn’t exactly a high school rematch.

The end result was just as tight as those games however, as the Brewer Falcons took advantage of a couple Bangor miscues for three runs in the fifth and held off the Comrades for a 4-3 American Legion baseball win on a clear, cool night at Mansfield Stadium.

“It’s early and I’m new to the whole Legion rivalry thing, but I think this win was pretty big,” said second baseman Tony Doucette, who went 3-for-3 with two runs and a stolen base out of the No. 9 slot in Brewer’s batting order.

Both teams are now 1-1 in the 21-game Zone 1 season.

Falcons righthander Kyle Dalton notched his first win of the 2001 season after allowing six hits and two walks while striking out four in five innings. He also went 3-for-3 with the game-winning RBI.

“To tell you the truth, my fastball wasn’t working that well at the beginning, so I just tried to put ’em down the middle after the first to let my defense work behind me. I mixed in my curveball and that seemed to work out fine,” Dalton said. “I went 0-6 this season [for Hampden Academy], so I just came out today hoping to win a game. It feels great.”

Brewer lefty Chad Gomm, a starter at Brewer High, pitched the last two innings for his first save.

“I don’t care if it’s closer, starter … middle relief. I just like to pitch,” said Gomm, who did just that with a strikeout, a walk, and a hit while throwing 17 of 23 pitches for strikes.

“It seemed to me his ball had pretty good movement,” said Bangor coach Joe Nelson. “We swung at a couple down low and he got up in the count a lot.”

Trailing 2-1 in the fifth, the Falcons put their first two runners on via singles by Doucette and Adam Freeman. After a foul out, Joel Barrett lofted a fly ball to straightaway center, but Bangor center fielder Ryan Worcester lost it in the lights. The ball fell to the ground and the bases were loaded for Justin Spencer. Spencer slapped a potential double-play grounder to second, but the ball was bobbled, everyone was safe, and a run scored to tie the game.

After Chris McHale drove home a run on a sacrifice fly, Dalton singled to center to drive in what would be the winning run.

“The big inning they had where we gave them a couple extra outs, losing the ball in the lights and missing the cutoff, it extended the inning,” said Nelson. “A couple breaks went against us.”

Bangor got a run back in the bottom of the fifth on a one-out RBI single by Jim Shea (2-for-4) which hit the base of the left field wall on the fly. McHale grabbed the ball on the ricochet and fired a strike to third baseman Brian Sullivan, who threw another to catcher Joe Griffin, who was waiting for Bangor runner Kevin Proctor at home plate. Griffin tagged him for the second out and Shea advanced to third, but Dalton ended the threat with a strikeout.

Bangor took a 2-0 lead in the first on a one-out RBI single by Shawn Bouchard and Andrew Sullivan’s sacrifice fly. Brewer’s run in the third came on a Doucette single, a steal, and Adam Freeman’s RBI single.

Falcons 4, Comrades 3

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

Player AB R H BI Player AB BI

Freeman, cf 4 1 2 1 Worcester, cf 3 2 0

Allard, ss 4 0 0 0 Proctor, rf 3 0

Barrett, 1b 4 1 2 0 Shea, 2b 4 1

a-Work 0 0 0 0 Bouchard, c 1

Spencer, rf 4 0 1 1 Sullivan, p-1b 1 0 1

McHale, lf 2 0 0 1 Chapman, 3b 3 0

Dalton, p 3 0 3 1 Treadwell, lf 3 0 0

Cote, 3b 1 0 0 0 Fergerson, 1b-p 3 0

Sullivan, 3b 1 0 0 0 Dennis, ss 2 0

Griffin, c 3 0 0 0 b-Young 1 0 0

Doucette, 2b 3 2 3 0

Totals 29 4 11 4 Totals 26 3 3

a-ran for Barrett in seventh; b-flied out for Dennis in seventh

Brewer 001 030 0? 4

Bangor 200 010 0? 3

E?Allard, Doucette; Worcester, Shea; LOB?Brewer 7; Bangor 6; DP?Cote-Doucette-Barrett; Shea-Dennis-Sullivan, Dennis-Shea-Sullivan; SF?McHale; Sullivan; SB?Doucette; Sullivan, Chapman

Brewer IP H R ER BB SO

Dalton (W, 1-0)5 6 3 3 2 4

Gomm (S, 1) 2 1 0 0 1 1

Bangor IP H R ER BB SO

Sullivan (L, 0-1) 51/3 9 4 1 1 4

Fergerson 12/3 2 0 0 0 0

HBP?McHale by Sullivan; WP?Sullivan 2; PB?Griffin; T?1:44; ATT?88