BANGOR – As the second inning was winding to a close Saturday afternoon, John Bapst coach Jay Kemble told his players it felt like “one of those games,” where one or two runs would stand up.

And even though the Brewer Witches went out and whipped up five runs the very next inning, Kemble was right. It was one of those games.

It was also one of those days for the Crusaders as their offense was shackled by Brewer lefthander Chad Gomm and their defense let down a bit, allowing the Witches to capitalize on four errors by scoring four unearned runs in a 6-0 victory at Husson College.

Just like the blustery gusts that turned an otherwise picturesque day into a chilly one on the diamond, Brewer’s offense scored in bursts. Meanwhile, Gomm was blowing his way through Bapst’s lineup like it was tumbleweeds.

Brewer’s junior ace spread five hits over six innings while striking out 11 batters and walking none to bump his record up to 2-0.

“No matter what he threw, he got ahead somehow. He got his pitches in the strike zone and he could be more selective,” said Kemble. “The thing I liked about him is he kept getting ahead in the count and forcing the hitters to hit his pitches instead of vice versa.”

Of the 99 pitches thrown by Gomm, 69 percent (68) went for strikes. He struck out eight of Bapst’s nine starters at least once.

“Getting up on the count most of the time relaxed me a lot, so I didn’t have to just throw it right down the pike every time,” he said.

Thanks to Gomm’s effort and aggressive Brewer baserunning which produced seven stolen bases, the Witches improved to 3-1.

“We like to think we have some speed, which allows us to be aggressive, but you also have to take advantage of situations and we did that today,” said Brewer coach David Morris. “We just took what we could get and it was good we were able to jump on them early.”

Brewer scored five runs on three hits after the leadoff hitter was retired in the third. Only two of the hits drove in runs as the rest came via errors and/or steals.

After legging out an infield single and stealing second, Zach Bouzan-Kaloustian scored on Anthony Doucette’s single to right. Doucette stole second, advanced to third on a fielder’s choice and error, and then scored – along with Joel Barrett, who was intentionally walked – on a throwing error by pitcher James Strout.

“We can steal bases, like we did today, but I think our offense is pretty versatile,” said Cote, who swiped three. “We have guys who can get the big hit or we can run and put pressure on defenses.”

Joe Griffin, who reached and advanced to second on the fielder’s choice error, scored on Shawn Sutherland’s single to left. A double steal by Sutherland (of second) and Chris Cote (home) scored the last run of the inning.

“We had a couple chances to get out of that inning, but we gave them about five outs when we could have easily been out of it with no runs,” Kemble said. “We just need to regain a little confidence … And consistency.”

Brewer added another run in the fifth the unconventional way as Cote drew a one-out walk, stole second, went to third on a balk, and then scored on another balk by Bapst reliever Keith Nason, who then retired the next two batters via strikeouts. Nason was solid in relief as he yielded no hits, no runs and one walk while striking out five in three innings of work.

Bapst is now 0-3-1.

WITCHES 6, CRUSADERS 0

Brewer (3-1) John Bapst (0-3-1)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Bouzan-Kalstian,ss 3 1 1 0 Strout, p 2 0

Doucette, 2b 3 1 1 1 Nason, p 1 0 0

Barrett, 1b 3 1 1 0 a-Rand 1 0 0 0

Griffin, 1b 3 1 1 0 Tremble, rf 3 0 0

Cote, 3b 1 2 0 0 Z. Means, ss 3 0 0

Sutherland, rf 3 0 1 1 Myerowitz, 1b 3 0

Bell, lf 3 0 0 0 Chapman, 3b 3 0 0

Bernier, dh 3 0 0 0 Snyder, cf 3 0 0

Sargent, cf 2 0 0 0 Jellison, lf 3 0 0

Brown, c 3 0 0 0

A. Means, 2b 3 0 1 0

Totals 24 6 5 2 Totals 28 0 5 0

a-grounded out for Nason in seventh

Brewer 005 010 0 7

John Bapst 000 000 0 0

E? Cote; Strout, Chapman, Jellison, Brown; LOB? Brewer 4, John Bapst 7; DP? Nason-A. Means; SB? Cote 3, Bouzan-Kaloustian, Doucette, Sutherland, Sargent

Brewer IP H R ER BB SO

Gomm (W, 2-0) 6 5 0 0 0 11

Caldwell 1 0 0 0 0 0

John Bapst IP H R ER BB SO

Strout (L, 0-2) 4 5 6 2 5 4

Nason 3 0 0 0 1 5

WP? Gomm; Strout, Nason; BK? Nason 2; T? 2:20; ATT? 78