Brewer, Bangor, Waldo open with victories Lincoln, Penquis to battle today

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BANGOR – Brewer and Bangor featured powerful offensive attacks while Penquis received a strong pitching performance to help the three teams advance in the first round of the Zone 1 American Legion baseball tourney at Mansfield Stadium Thursday.

Brewer beat up Lincoln 22-3, Bangor defeated Penquis 11-7 and Waldo-Knox stopped Trenton 5-2 behind a six-hit effort from lefthander Parker Toothill.

Today, Lincoln will play Penquis at noon, Brewer will take on Trenton at 4 p.m. and Bangor will battle Waldo-Knox at 8 p.m.

In the first game, the Brewer Falcons arrived at Mansfield Stadium with the No. 1 seed, a gaudy 21-1 record, and a reputation as a team that can punish opposing pitchers.

After pounding out 18 hits, scoring 22 runs, and sending seven or more batters to the plate in four of the six innings they got to hit, that reputation was intact.

The Falcons dispatched No. 6 Lincoln 22-3 in a game shortened to 61/2 innings by the 10-run rule. Lincoln drops to 10-13.

Joel Barrett keyed the attack, lashing two doubles, a triple, a single, and missing out on hitting for the cycle by about 15 feet – his sixth-inning laser cleared the left-field fence with plenty of room to spare, but it hooked just foul. Barrett also drove in five runs.

But Barrett’s effort was merely the most spectacular on a day when the Falcons did exactly what they’ve been doing all year long: tearing the cover off the baseball.

“When you have a couple of line drives right in a row, you can take some wind out of people’s sails, and I think that happened a little bit,” said Brewer coach David Morris.

“[We’ve] got a bunch of great guys there. That lineup’s tough. And it’s great to sit back and watch them do what they do.”

Among the things they did:

Adam Sheehan had four singles and three RBIs. Abram Allard added three singles and two RBIs. Kyle Dalton added three more singles, while Shawn Sutherland had two.

Eight Brewer starters scored more than once, and the other – No. 9 hitter Eric Libbey, drove in three.

While the hitting was impressive, Barrett credited starter Chad Gomm (5 innings, 0 earned runs, 8 strikeouts) for a dominant effort.

“Chad Gomm’s Chad Gomm,” Barrett said. “Nothing bothers him. He’s just cool, calm and collected and pitches a big game every time he comes out.”

In the second game, Bangor pounded out 17 hits and built an 11-2 lead, then hung on as Penquis scored five late runs to make the game closer.

The first three hitters in Bangor’s lineup – Phil Cayford (3-for-3, 3 RBIs), Kevin Proctor (3-for-6, RBI) and Andy Tremble (3-for-5, 2 RBIs) – sparked the offense.

“They’ve been the tablesetters all year,” Bangor coach Jay Kemble said.

Zev Myerowitz (two singles, 2 RBIs), Nate Hall (double, single) and Tyler Jellison (two singles) also contributed for the Comrades, who improved to 16-7 with the win.

“We had a lot of guys who had good at-bats today,” Kemble said.

Cayford’s two-run double in the third gave Bangor a 5-2 lead and some breathing room. The Comrades appeared to put the game away with a four-run rally in the fifth, highlighted by run-scoring singles from Proctor and Tremble. Myerowitz also drew a bases-loaded walk during the rally.

Bangor also left 17 runners on base in the contest, including leaving the bases loaded in the first, fifth and sixth innings.

The Navigators scored three unearned runs in the eighth, then scored twice more in the ninth before Cayford struck out Darin Spack to end the game and preserve the win for Josh Young. Young allowed only one earned run in 7 2/3 innings while striking out five and walking just two.

“Josh pitched well enough to complete the game,” Kemble said. “If we made some plays behind him, he could have finished the game.”

Adam Russell singled three times, doubled and drove in a run for 10-13 Penquis, while James Gray added two singles, a double and an RBI. Brian White tripled and singled for the Navigators, who are making their first Zone 1 tournament appearance.

“We battled all the way through and fell short,” Penquis coach Rob St. Louis said. “I’m really proud of the team.”

In the third game, the No. 3 Wildcats of Waldo-Knox reached Trenton ace Chris Sargent for five runs (including four unearned tallies) in the bottom of the third, then let Toothill do the rest.

Toothill has enlisted in the Army and leaves on Wednesday. If the Wildcats advance to the state tourney, they?ll do so without him.

But if Thursday?s 5-2 win ends up being Toothill?s final pitching performance, it was a gem.

The lefty baffled fourth-seeded Trenton?s hitters all day, striking out 13 and walking just two in a gritty nine-inning win. He threw 148 pitches, including 104 strikes.

?I haven?t pitched in a long time and I?ve never really pitched a whole nine-inning game, but I felt really good throwing,? Toothill said.

Waldo-Knox coach Emery Shute was impressed by his pitcher?s outing.

?He had a heck of a day,? Shute said. ?It?s just that we didn?t support him much. You shouldn?t win with six errors in the Zone 1 tournament, but hey, the final score?s the final score, I guess.?

Waldo-Knox moves to 15-8 while Trenton drops to 14-9.

Waldo-Knox scored all the runs they?d need in the third. Kevin Gray started the uprising with a bloop single to right, John Bonney followed with a bunt single and Chris Carman loaded the bases when he reached on an infield error.

Pasco Grove drove in the first run on another bloop single to right, and after a Sargent induced a strikeout for the second out of the inning, Devin Potvin drilled a bases-clearing double to deep left. He trotted home when Nick Arthers lashed a double of his own.

Potvin and Arthers had two doubles apiece.

Trenton scored single unearned runs in the fifth and the ninth, but stranded 10 baserunners.

Leadoff hitter Mark Clapp and No. 9 batter B.J. Greenleaf had two hits each for Trenton.

Chris DeBeck also contributed to this story.

WILDCATS 5, ACADIANS 2

(Thursday’s Third Game)

Trenton (14-9) Waldo-Knox (15-8)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Clapp, ss 5 0 2 1 Bonney, ss 3 1 0

Smith, rf 2 0 0 0 Carman, cf 4 1 0

Dow, rf 3 0 0 0 Grove, rf 4 1 1

Sargent, p-3b 5 0 0 0 Dennen, 1b 4 0

Colbeth, 2b 4 0 1 0 Potvin, c 4 1 3

Lowell, lf 4 0 0 0 Arthers, lf 4 0 0

Alley, cf 4 0 0 0 Cowan, 3b 3 0 0

Hutchins, 1b 4 0 1 0 Toothill, p 4 0 0

Young, 3b 3 1 0 0 Gray, 2b 3 1 0

Tripp, p 0 0 0 0

a-Hardison 1 0 0 0

Greenleaf, c 2 1 2 0

Totals 37 2 6 1 Totals 33 5 8 4

a-flied out for Tripp in 9th

Trenton 000 010 001 ? 2

Waldo-Knox 005 000 00x ? 5

E?Young, Colbeth; Bonney 2, Cowan, Gray 2, Dennen; LOB?Trenton 10; Waldo-Knox 6; 2B?Potvin 2, Arthers 2; S?Greenleaf; SB?Greenleaf, Clapp; Toothill

Trenton IP H R ER BB SO

Sargent (L, 4-2) 7 7 5 1 1 6

Tripp 1 1 0 0 0 0

Waldo-Knox IP H R ER BB SO

Toothill 9 6 2 0 2 13

HBP?Cowan by Tripp; WP?Sargent; T?2:10; ATT?95 (est.)

COMRADES 11, NAVIGATORS 7

(Thursday’s Second Game)

Penquis (10-13) Bangor (16-7)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Weymouth, p-cf 4 1 0 0 Cayford, ss-p 3 3

White, lf-rf 5 3 2 0 Proctor, rf 6 2 1

Gray,2b-p-ss 5 2 3 1 Tremble, 3b 5 0 2

Gabbaro, 1b-rf 5 0 1 0 Treadwell, lf 4 1

Russell, ss-p 5 1 4 1 Myerowitz, 1b-p 2 2

Watson, rf-2b 3 0 0 0 Sullivan, dh 4 0

Spack, p-c 1 0 0 1 Lane, 1b 1 0 0

Strout, cf-2b-lf 3 0 1 0 Dennis, ss 0 0

Morrison, 3b 3 0 0 0 Hall, 2b-ss 6 1 0

Kane, c 3 0 0 0 Dowe, c 5 1 1 0

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

Totals 38 7 11 3 Totals 40 11 17 9

Penquis 101 000 032 ? 7

Bangor 212 041 10x ? 11

E?Watson; Tremble 3, Cayford, Hall; LOB?Penquis 8, Bangor 17; 2B?Gray, Russell; Cayford, Hall; 3B?White; SB?Weymouth, White; Myerowitz 2, Tremble

Penquis IP H R ER BB SO

Weymouth (L, 1-3) 4 1/3 13 8 8 3 4

Gray 1 2/3 0 2 1 3 0

Spack 1 4 0 0 1 2

Russell 1 0 0 0 1 2

Bangor IP H R ER BB SO

Young (W, 4-2) 7 2/3 8 5 1 2 5

Myerowitz 1 2 2 1 1 2

Cayford 1/3 1 0 0 0 1

HBP?Morrison by Myerowitz; Cayford, Treadwell by Weymouth; Treadwell 2, Myerowitz by Gray; WP?Weymouth 2, Gray; PB?Kane; T?2:28;ATT?100 (est.)

FALCONS 22, LUMBER 3

(Thursday’s First Game)

Lincoln (10-13) Brewer (22-1)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Flannery 2b-p 3 2 1 1 Sheehan, 3b 5 3

Leino, dh 2 0 0 0 Harvey, ss 2 3 0

Whitney, p-2b 1 0 1 0 Barrett, 1b 6 5

Malone, 3b 4 0 3 0 Allard, 2b 4 2 2

Ham, cf 3 0 0 1 Dalton, lf 3 3 1

Lasko, 1b 4 0 1 0 Moran, dh 4 2 1

Kites, rf 2 0 0 0 Bzn-Kaloustian, lf 0 0

Artes, rf 1 0 0 0 Sutherland, cf 4 2 1

Dow, lf 3 0 1 0 McHale, c 2 3 1

Gardner, lf 0 0 0 0 Libbey, rf 2 0 3

Cousineau, ss 3 1 1 0

Woodman, lf 3 0 0 0

Totals 29 3 8 2 Totals 32 22 18 17

Lincoln 100 010 1 ? 3

Brewer 303 871 x ? 22

E?Malone 2; Libbey, Sheehan, Gomm, Bouzan-Kaloustian; LOB?Lincoln 8; Brewer 8; 2B?Barrett 2; 3B?Barrett; DP?Ham-Flannery; SF?Ham; Allard, Libbey, Sutherland; SB?Harvey, Allard 2, Dalton 2

Lincoln IP H R ER BB SO

Thompson (L, 3-4) 3* 8 10 10 5 2

Whitney 1 2/3 8 11 4 1 1

Flannery 1 1/3 2 1 1 1 1

Brewer IP H R ER BB SO

Gomm (W, 7-1) 5 5 2 0 1 8

Moran 1 1 0 0 0 1

Dalton 1 2 1 1 1 0

*Thompson faced four batters in the fourth

HBP?Moran, Dalton by Thompson, Harvey, McHale by Whitney, Libby by Flannery; WP?Thompson 2; PB?McHale; T?2:25; ATT?125 (est.)