Trenton roars by Orono Discipline at plate brings big innings

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ORONO – The evening was hot and muggy, but Trenton’s American Legion squad stayed cool at the plate during Thursday’s game against Orono at the high school field here.

Seven times in the first inning the Acadians faced two-strike counts against Twins pitcher Ryan Brown. Five times Trenton responded with either a hit or a walk to move around the runners.

All of that offense – two home runs, a double, two singles, a walk and a stolen base – led to five runs and a good head start in what turned out to be a 16-7 victory for the Acadians.

The game was called in the top of the seventh due to darkness, so Orono didn’t get a chance for final at-bats. The teams got started a little late because of standing water on the field.

The Acadians are 5-0, while the Twins slipped to 3-3.

Trenton pounded out 17 hits, including two home runs, a triple, and two doubles.

“We’re a pretty good hitting team,” said Jake Lowell, who was 2-for-4 with four RBIs. “We have good hitters up and down the lineup. We came in expecting to play a good team and we played a good game against them.”

The first inning proved to be the spark.

After a groundout to open the game, Chad Smith hit a home run over the right-field fence. Orono’s defense recorded another groundout, but Ryan Hutchins doubled to start a two-out rally. He scored on a Chris Sargent single.

Lowell, the next batter, cranked a homer to left-center, plating Sargent. Blake Alley continued the rally with a walk, and he stole second to get into scoring position. B.J. Greenleaf’s single scored him.

“He was a good pitcher,” Lowell said. “Personally, I like facing good pitchers, and we hit him pretty well. … We just had to stay in there with good two-strike hitting.”

Trenton scored three more runs in the second – a Lowell triple that drove in Hutchins and Sargent did the most damage.

Orono coach Aaron Watson said Brown, who got a strikeout to end the first inning and fanned five in four complete innings, said the problem was Brown was throwing too many strikes.

“You go 1-2, you can try to miss,” Watson said. “He was feeling good, locating his fastball and his curveball in the zone, but on a 1-2 it’s OK to miss. So in the third and fourth [innings] he started to miss on purpose, a little bit more high and outside.”

The Acadians piled on six more in the fifth thanks to a two-run Smith single and RBI singles by Alley, Brandon Colbeth, and Hutchins.

Trenton pitcher Travis Tripp picking up his first win. He walked five and struck out two.

“He usually throws more strikes, but he hasn’t thrown for a week,” Dow said. “I was gonna take him out the last inning because he was up over 100 [pitches], but he’s the type of kid who can handle that.”

Orono “showed some character,” Watson said, as the Twins tried to come back. Mike Merritt smacked a three-run triple in the second inning and Dustin Thomas hit a two-run home run in the third.

“I was happy to see Dustin hit a ball real well,” Watson said. “To see him get that home run was nice. I think that will give him some confidence. He knows he can hit at this level. … He came around third base smiling.”

ACADIANS 16, TWINS 7

Trenton (5-0) Orono (3-3)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Clapp, ss 4 1 2 1 Merritt, 2b 4 1 3

Smith, cf 4 3 2 3 Tidwell, ss 4 0 0

Colbeth, 2b 3 1 1 1 B. Thomas, c 3 1 0

a-Freedman 0 0 0 0 Levesque, 3b-rf-1b 4 1

Hutchins, dh 4 3 2 1 Goody, 1b-p 3 1 1

Sargent, 3b 4 2 3 2 Thibodeau, cf 0 0 0

b-Cough 1 0 0 0 D. Thomas, rf-p 4 2 2

Lowell, lf 4 1 2 4 Brown, p 0 1 0

c-Abbott 1 1 1 0 Tewhey, 3b 0 0 0

Alley, rf 2 1 1 1 Aucoin, lf-cf-p 2 1 0

d-Dalton 0 0 0 1 Miller, cf 2 0 0

Greenleaf, c 3 2 2 1 Keefe, lf 1 0 0

e-Hardison 1 0 1 0

Dow, 1b 2 1 0 0

Totals 33 16 17 15 Totals 27 7 9 7

a-walked for Colbeth in the sixth; b-struck out for Sargent in the sixth; c-singled for Lowell in the seventh; d-flied out for Alley in the seventh; e-singled for Greenleaf in the seventh

Trenton 530 061 1 ? 16

Orono 032 101 x ? 7

E?Sargent; B. Thomas, Goody LOB?Trenton 9, Orono 8; 2B?Hutchins, Sargent; 3B?Lowell; Merritt HR?Smith, Lowell; D. Thomas; SF?Dalton; SB?Alley, Smith, Colbeth

Trenton IP H R ER BB SO

Tripp (W, 1-0) 7 9 7 7 5 2

Orono IP H R ER BB SO

Brown (L, 1-1) 4* 8 10 10 6 5

Thomas 1 4 4 2 1 1

Goody 1 2 1 1 2 2

Aucoin 1/3 2 1 0 0 0

*faced two batters in the fifth

HBP?Brown by Tripp; WP?Tripp 3; Brown, Goody, Aucoin; T?2:24; ATT?100 (est.)