Errors costly as New Auburn ousts Orono Nova Seafood, Oxford Hills earn wins Monday

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BANGOR – Before the American Legion Baseball State Tournament began, Orono’s coaches knew the main determinant of how far they’d go would be defense.

When the Twins don’t make many errors, they win. When they do, they don’t.

Monday at Mansfield Stadium, they did and they didn’t. New Auburn scored four unearned runs in the second inning en route to a 7-2 win over Orono in an elimination game on a sunny, hot afternoon.

New Auburn, now 20-6, will play Monmouth at 4 p.m. Tuesday. Nova Seafood of Portland, a 6-5 winner over Coastal Athletics in Monday’s second elimination game, will take on tourney unbeaten Oxford Hills, a 6-4 winner over Monmouth Monday night, at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Monday afternoon, New Auburn’s battery did most of the battering.

Burly righthander Todd Gamache shook off pregame arm trouble to throw 117 pitches and pitch an impressive five-hitter.

“My arm was really hurting in the bicep and tricep area before the game. I don’t know what it was,” said Gamache, whose arm was worked on by coaches a half hour to get it loose enough to throw.

Catcher Derek McIntosh went 4-for-4 with a double, a solo home run, two singles and four RBIs.

McIntosh, who was the only player in the tourney to homer (twice) through the first 10 games, was surprised by the pitches he saw after a pregame conversation with future Saint Joseph’s College roommate Brad Wheaton.

“My roommate plays for Orono and I saw him before the game and told him he might want to tell his pitcher not to pitch me inside, but all I was seeing was inside fastballs,” McIntosh explained.

So much for inside information.

“I guess I should have told him [Orono starting pitcher Daryl Watson], but I didn’t really think much of it,” Wheaton said. “I didn’t want to get into his business.”

Meanwhile, Gamache was giving the Twins the business as only six Orono baserunners reached scoring position all game long.

Orono (22-6) scratched for two runs in the third on two hits and two walks after New Auburn plated four in the second, but never really threatened again until the eighth, when the Twins loaded the bases with one out.

New Auburn coach Scott Annear went to the mound to relieve Gamache, but Gamache lobbied hard to stay in the game.

“Coach kept me on a short leash. He said he wanted to pull me and I told him I didn’t want to come out,” said Gamache, who won the argument and responded by striking out the next hitter and retiring the next on a flyout to right field.

New Auburn scored twice in the fourth on McIntosh’s two-out double to left and once in the seventh on his homer.

McIntosh’s double came after a mishandled ball blew a chance for an inning-ending double play. All four runs in the second came after a dropped outfield fly, which would have been the third out.

“We had several chances to close innings out and didn’t do it. That’s what made the difference,” said Orono coach Jay Kemble.

Monday night, Nate Jones went 3-for-5 with a double and no RBIs while Oxford Hills teammate Eric Cavers went 0-for-3 with three RBIs as the Vikings rode a solid effort on the mound from starter Tyler Cummings to get the win.

Cummings allowed eight hits in eight innings while walking four and striking out four. Garrett Olson came on in the ninth and notched the save. Monmouth’s leadoff man reached on a two-base fielding error and scored on two groundouts, but Olson notched the last out on another groundout.

Monday Afternoon

Nova Seafood (27-4) 000 060 000 – 6 8 0

Coastal Athletics (21-7) 000 122 000 – 5 8 2

Giobbi, Breton (9) and Bartlett; C. Furbush, Pascale (5) and M. Rutherford

New Auburn 7, Twins 2

Orono (22-6) New Auburn (20-6)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Tidwell, ss 3 1 0 0 Plourde, cf 2 1 0

Jellison, cf 4 0 2 0 Robinson, 2b 4 1 2

Wheaton, rf 2 0 1 2 McIntosh, c 4 1 4

Goody, lf-1b 4 0 1 0 Verrill, rf 4 0 0

Tewhey, 3b 4 0 0 0 Lawler, ss 4 0 0

Thomas, dh 4 0 0 0 Gamache, p 3 1 0

Clark, 1b 1 1 1 0 Flynn, lf 4 1 0

a-Sweeney 0 0 0 0 Dionne, 1b 3 0 0

Brown, lf 1 0 0 0 Gagnon, 3b 4 2 0

Cole, c 4 0 0 0

Cousineau, 2b 2 0 0 0

Merritt, 2b 2 0 0 0

Totals 31 2 5 2 Totals 32 7 7 6

a-ran for Clark in seventh

Orono 002 000 000? 2

New Auburn 040 200 10x? 7

E? Wheaton, Tewhey, Watson, Clark; Lawler; LOB? Orono 8; New Auburn 6; 2B? McIntosh; HR? McIntosh (7); DP? Tidwell-Clark; Robinson-Lawler-Dionne

Orono IP H R ER BB SO

Gamache (W,3-1) 9 5 2 2 5 6

Home IP H R ER BB SO

Watson, (W,4-3) 8 7 7 3 4 4

HBP? Clark by Gamache; T? 1:59; ATT? 106

Vikings 6, Monmouth 4

Oxford Hills (21-4) Monmouth (21-6)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Austin, 2b 5 3 2 0 Lemieux, cf 4 3 0

Jones, 3b 5 1 3 0 Emery, ss 4 0 0

Wall, 1b 4 0 0 0 Creek, 3b 0 0 0

Cavers, cf 3 1 0 3 Daggett, 1b 4 1 1

Stacy, c 4 0 0 0 Muniz, p-rf 5 0 2

Boyce, ss 4 1 2 0 Dorion, rf-2b-3b 4 1

Batchelder, rf 4 0 1 0 Fairchild, 2b-p 3 0

Olson, lf-p 2 0 0 0 Stroup, 1b-3b-p 3 0 0

Charles, dh 2 0 0 0 Buckley, c 3 0 0

Frye, lf 0 0 0 0 a-Lake 1 0 0 0

Dumond, c 0 0 0 0

Dressler, lf 4 0 0 0

Totals 33 6 8 3 Totals 35 4 8 4

a-flied out for Buckley in eighth

Oxford Hills 200 110 200? 6

Monmouth 101 010 001? 4

E?Jones, Batchelder; Lemieux, Emery 2, Dorion, Fairchild, Buckley; LOB?Oxford Hills 7; Monmouth 9; 2B?Jones; Muniz; DP?Wall-Boyce; Emery-Fairchild-Stroup; S?Charles; SF?Cavers 2; SB?Cavers, Olson, Stacy

Oxford Hills IP H R ER BB SO

Cummings (W, 4-2) 8 8 3 3 4 4

Olson (S, 1) 1 0 1 0 0 0

Monmouth IP H R ER BB SO

Muniz (L, 4-3) 6 8 5 3 3 2

Fairchild 1 0 1 0 0 1

Stroup 2 0 0 0 1 1

HBP?Creek by Cummings; WP?Cummings, Muniz; T?2:40; ATT?175