Bangor snaps offensive woes Ross powers ‘Jacks to victory

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ORONO – Three consecutive pitches were all it took to put a temporary end to a season-long batting slump for the Bangor Lumberjacks.

Pitches 1 and 2 were singles by Brad Hargreaves and Todd Brock to open the bottom of the third inning of Sunday’s Northeast League baseball game at Mahaney Diamond.

Pitch 3 sailed over the right-field fence, a three-run homer by Donnie Ross that broke a 2-2 tie and propelled the Jacks to a 9-8 victory over the Quebec Capitales.

The win gave the Jacks (13-19) two victories in their three-game series against the Capitales. Quebec (16-20) was a 9-2 winner Saturday night.

For a team that entered the game scoring just 3.3 runs per game and with a .215 team batting average – both by far league lows – Sunday’s uprising was a welcome development.

“It’s been waiting to happen,” said Ross. “We’ve been putting some good swings on the ball the last couple of nights; matter of fact it’s been happening all year. But today they fell for us, and hopefully they’ll keep falling for us.”

The Jacks pounded out 13 hits overall, nine in four-plus innings against Quebec starter Jason Cly (2-3). Cly entered the game with a 1.65 earned run average – tied for fifth-best in the league.

The key to the outburst? No practice.

“Sometimes when guys are struggling if they have a bad round of batting practice they carry it over to the game,” said Bangor manager Kash Beauchamp. “So we didn’t give them that opportunity.”

Ross was the biggest beneficiary, going 3-for-4 with two home runs, three runs scored and four RBI.

Outfielder Edwin Thompson of Jay, signed by the team Saturday, added a triple, double and single, while Brock had a solo home run in the first inning and two singles.

The Lumberjacks built on their 5-2 lead with three runs in the fifth, as Lorenzo de la Cruz hit a two-run double and scored on an RBI triple by Thompson.

Quebec scored three runs in the top of the sixth to close within 8-5 and chase both Bangor starter Kevin Pinkavitch (2-1) and reliever Donnie Thomas. Consecutive singles by John Ballon, Osmani Garcia and Asdrubal Oropeza loaded the bases with no one out, ending Pinkavitch’s day. All three runners scored under Thomas’ watch, one on a Peter L’Italien single and two on Benoit Emond’s double to right-center.

Jeff Sparks then relieved Thomas and got back-to-back strikeouts of Jake Burnham and Carlos Rodriguez – his third of four punchouts on the day – to end the inning. Sparks pitched 2 2/3 innings of hitless relief before being lifted at the start of the ninth inning as he continues his recovery from an injury.

Ross hit his second home run of the day and fifth of the season, a leadoff shot to right in the seventh, to extend the Jacks’ lead to 9-5.

Things got scary for Bangor in the ninth, as reliever Brandon Bowe yielded a double to Burnham and two walks before Oropeza blasted a three-run double to suddenly turn this into a one-run game.

But Santiago Henry relieved Bowe, and after issuing an intentional walk to Marc-Andre Charbonneau he struck out L’Italien to end the game and earn his third save of the season.

On Saturday night, Keith Dunn allowed the Lumberjacks just seven hits and one earned run over 7 2/3 innings as the Capitales cruised to victory.

Control was Dunn’s primary virtue. The righthander struck out nine and walked no one, and went to a three-ball count on just three batters in a 122-pitch performance.

“I just stayed with my fastball,” said Dunn, now 3-3. “I had good movement and made them hit my fastball.”

Antwoine Anderson replaced Dunn with two on and two out in the eighth and pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Quebec broke a 1-1 tie with five runs in the fifth inning and three more runs in the sixth. Quebec sent nine batters to the plate in the fifth, with back-to-back RBI singles by Lantigua and Ballon marking the end of Bangor starter Danny Miller’s evening and a two-run single by Oropeza off reliever Brian Gouin capping the rally and giving the Capitales a 6-1 lead.

Miller (1-5) yielded seven hits and six earned runs in 4 1/3 innings.

Lantigua led the Capitales’ 12-hit attack with three singles.

De la Cruz paced Bangor, hitting a double and single and scoring both of his team’s runs.

NOTES: In addition to signing Thompson, the Lumberjacks also signed former Bryant College standout Ashton Stone on Saturday. Stone helped lead Bryant to three Northeast 10 Conference championships and an appearance in the 2002 NCAA Division II tournament. His 18 career pitching victories ranks Stone second in Bryant College history. The 23-year-old right-hander is expected to pitch out of the Bangor bullpen. … To make room on the roster for Stone, the Lumberjacks placed shortstop Mitsuru Kobayashi on the disabled list.

CAPITALES 9, LUMBERJACKS 2

(Saturday Night’s Game)

Quebec (16-19) Bangor (12-19)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Emond, lf 5 2 2 0 Davidson, 2b 4 0 0

Burnham, rf 4 1 1 2 Hargreaves, c 4 0 0

Rodriguez, cf 3 1 0 0 Ross, 3b 4 0

Lantigua, 1b 5 1 3 1 de la Cruz, dh 4 2 0

Ballon, 3b 5 2 2 1 Britt, 1b 4 0 1

Garcia, 2b 3 0 0 0 Brock, ss 4 0 0

Oropeza, ss 5 0 1 2 Thompson, rf 3 0 0

Charbonneau, dh 4 0 1 1 Blakeney, cf 4 0

L’Italien, c 4 2 2 0 Groce, lf 3 0 0

Totals 38 9 12 7 Totals 34 2 7 1

Quebec 010 053 000 ? 9

Bangor 000 100 100 ? 2

E?Dunn; Brock, Thompson, Miller; LOB?Capitales 7, Lumberjacks 6; 2B?Emond, Ballon 2; de la Cruz; SF?Garcia; SB?Rodriguez, Lantigua, Charbonneau, Hargreaves

Quebec IP H R ER BB SO

Dunn (W, 3-3) 7 2/3 7 2 1 0 8

Anderson 1 1/3 0 0 0 0 1

Bangor IP H R ER BB SO

Miller (L, 1-5) 4 1/3 7 6 6 2 3

Gouin 1 2/3 4 3 2 0 2

Stone 2 0 0 0 0 0

Kalinowski 1 1 0 0 0 1

HBP?Rodriguez by Miller; Thompson by Anderson; T? 2:58; ATT?1,241

LUMBERJACKS 9, CAPITALES 8

(Sunday’s Game)

Quebec (16-20) Bangor (13-19)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Emond, lf 5 0 2 1 Hargreaves, 2b 5 1 0

Burnham, rf 5 1 1 1 Brock, ss 4 3 1

Rodriguez, cf 4 0 0 0 Ross, 3b 4 4

Lantigua, 1b 4 2 2 0 de la Cruz, dh 3 1 2

Ballon, 3b 4 2 2 0 Britt, rf 4 0 0

Garcia, 2b 5 1 2 0 Voltz, 1b 4 1 0

Oropeza, ss 3 1 2 3 Thompson, lf 4 0 1

Charbonneau, dh 3 1 0 0 Blakeney, cf 2 1

L’Italien, c 4 0 1 1 Melendez, c 4 0 0

Totals 37 8 12 6 Totals 34 9 13 9

Quebec 011 003 003 ? 8

Bangor 113 030 10x ? 9

E?Brock; LOB?Capitales 10, Lumberjacks 4; 2B?Emond, Burnham, Lantigua, Ballon, Oropeza; de la Cruz, Thompson; 3B?Thompson; HR?Brock (3); Ross 2 (4,5); S?L’Italien; Blakeney; SF?Blakeney; SB?Oropeza; de la Cruz

Quebec IP H R ER BB SO

Cly (L, 2-3) 4 9 7 7 0 4

Charron 3 3 2 2 1 0

Marchetti 1 1 0 0 0 0

Bangor IP H R ER BB SO

Pinkavitch (W, 2-1) 5 8 5 4 1 4

Thomas 1/3 2 0 0 0 0

Sparks 2 2/3 0 0 0 0 5

Bowe 2/3 2 3 3 2 1

Henry (S, 3) 1/3 0 0 0 1 1

Cly faced two batters in the 5th; Pinkavitch faced three batters in the 6th.

HBP?Oropeza by Pinkavitch, Rodriguez by Pinkavitch, Oropeza by Sparks; PB?Melendez 2; T? 3:08; ATT?1,009