South starts strong, defeats Bangor Boynton Beach records 2nd victory

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BANGOR – Opportunities.

Who took them and who missed them was the story in Tuesday night’s Senior League World Series game between host Bangor and South champ Boynton Beach, Fla.

Each team loaded the bases in three different innings. Bangor scored four runners and stranded 11 while Boynton Beach scored nine and stranded six en route to a 10-4 Boynton Beach victory on a warm evening at Mansfield Stadium.

“You just can’t leave that many on. I think we gave them a lot of momentum when we came out on fire and couldn’t bring anybody in,” said Bangor co-coach Dave Utterback. “When they shut us down and then went out and put three on us, that hurt.”

Early momentum was the other key factor as Bangor loaded the bases in the top of the first with one out, but couldn’t bring anyone home. Boynton Beach did the same thing in the bottom half, but came away with three runs.

“We’ve been getting off to quick starts in all our games,” said Boynton Beach coach Danny Wilson. “It’s just that we haven’t been consistent through the rest of the game. “With 13 hits tonight, it’s finally opening up for us.”

Boynton Beach, now 2-1 in the round robin tourney, will take on Moscow, Russia, Thursday at 10 a.m. Bangor (0-2) plays Moscow at 5 p.m. Wednesday. Tuesday’s loss means Bangor has virtually no chance to get into the semifinals.

One of Boynton’s key players was starting pitcher Luis Maldonado, who survived a rocky start and eight walks to scatter six hits in a 141-pitch complete-game victory.

“My arm was feeling kind of tight, so I needed to slow it up a little and take some time on the mound to get loose and get my fastball established,” said Maldonado. “As the innings went on, I got stronger and stronger.”

Maldonado was close to being lifted in the first and third after nearly walking the bases loaded.

“Ken [Griffiths] went out and told him just to play within himself and let the defense work for him,” said Wilson. “We didn’t want him to work the count too high because he was racking up the pitches.”

Maldonado, who also had two singles and two RBIs, said it was mostly mental once his arm got loose.

“When I get off to a bad start, I actually pitch a lot better,” he said. “I like the adrenaline and I like it when people cheer against me. It pumps me up and gets me motivated.

With a crowd of 1,800 mostly-partisan fans roaring for Bangor after the home team scored twice on Josh Young’s RBI single and a bases-loaded walk to P.J. Dowe with one out in the third, Maldonado buckled down. He struck out the next batter and escaped further damage with a fly ball to right.

Bangor halved Boynton Beach’s lead to 4-2, but Boynton came right back with three more runs in the fourth courtesy of a Bangor error, three hits, a walk, and a sacrifice fly.

Bangor added two more in the sixth on a bases-loaded single by Young and Boynton Beach’s lone error of the game, but Boynton came right back with three runs in the bottom of the inning on four hits, the biggest of which was Stephen Vento’s bases-loaded, two-run single.

BOYNTON BEACH, FLA. 10, BANGOR 4

Bangor (0-2) Boynton Beach (2-1)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Heath, ss 4 1 2 0 Orr, c 4 3 3 0

Woodcock, rf 1 0 0 0 Griffiths, cf 3 2 0

Heber, rf-cf 1 1 0 0 Owens, 3b 3 3 1

a-Anderson 0 0 0 0 Maldonado, p 3 1 2

Gallant, lf 0 1 0 0 Vento, 1b 3 1 2

Hall, lf 1 1 0 0 Howard, ss 3 0 2

Young, 1b 3 0 2 2 Arena, 2b 4 0 0

M.LaRochelle,cf-rf 3 0 0 0 Wilson, lf 1 1

b-Toomey 0 0 0 0 Meaney, lf 1 0 0

Dowe, c 3 0 0 1 Herring, lf 0 0 0

Hackett, p-3b 4 0 1 1 Souza, rf 2 0

Willette, 3b 2 0 1 0 Wright, rf-lf 1 0 0

DeRosa, p 2 0 0 0

N.LaRochelle,2b 4 0 0 0

Totals 28 4 6 4 Totals 28 10 13 8

a-walked for Heber in sixth, b-walked for M. LaRochelle in fifth

Bangor 002 002 0 ? 4

Boynton Beach 310 303 x ? 10

E? M. LaRochelle, N. LaRochelle; Howard; LOB? Bangor 11; Boynton Beach 6; SF? Vento; SB? Orr, Owens, Wilson

Bangor IP H R ER BB SO

Hackett (L) 1 4 3 3 1 1

DeRosa 5 9 7 6 3 7

Boynton Beach IP H R ER BB SO

Maldonado (W) 7 6 4 4 8 7

HBP?Howard (Hackett); WP? DeRosa; T? 2:03; ATT? 1,800 (est.)