Brewer, Lincoln prevail Ham curveballs stymie Bangor

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BANGOR – When told he threw about 130 pitches Thursday afternoon, Lincoln pitcher Jeremy Ham responded with what everyone at Mansfield Stadium already knew.

“130 curves,” he said.

Indeed, what Ham threw was no mystery, except to the Bangor hitters, whom the right-hander held to three hits as Lincoln edged the Comrades 2-1 in an opening-round game of the American Legion Zone 1 baseball tournament.

Earlier in the day, top-ranked Brewer handled Calais 14-2 in a game halted after 61/2 innings by the 10-run rule.

Calais will play Bangor in an elimination game at noon today, while Brewer will play the Trenton/Penquis loser at 4 p.m. and Lincoln will face the Trenton/Penquis winner at 8 p.m.

Ham (5-0) defeated Bangor for the third time this season, striking out four and walking four Thursday while outdueling Bangor right-hander Josh Young (5-3). Young, the Zone 1 Pitcher of the Year, pitched a five-hitter with 10 strikeouts and just one walk.

“Both kids pitched very well,” said Bangor coach Jay Kemble. “[Ham] did a good job of working ahead in the count, and he kept his breaking ball on the outside part of the plate.”

Bangor’s inability to turn a double play on two tries in the first inning proved its undoing, as Lincoln (14-9) scratched out two runs that proved to be just enough.

Tyler Gardner singled for Lincoln with one out in the first and stole second base. After Scott Flannery walked, Matt Leino hit a grounder to second that Nick Larochelle misplayed, which loaded the bases. Matt Malone then grounded to Larochelle, who tossed to shortstop Alex Means to force out Leino at second. Gardner scored on the play, and when Means’ throw to first sailed wide, Flannery scored to give Lincoln a 2-0 lead.

Bangor (14-9) scored its run in the seventh. Young hit a leadoff single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by P.J. Dowe and scored on a two-out single to center by Tyler Jellison.

In Thursday’s opener, Jason Harvey showed why he was named Zone 1 Player of the Year, going 4-for-5 with five RBIs as the Falcons erupted for 13 hits.

Harvey’s two-run single off Calais starter Ryan McLay (2-3) in the bottom of the third broke a scoreless tie and ignited one of two five-run surges by the Falcons. Brewer stretched its lead to 9-0 with four runs in the fourth inning and added five more runs in the sixth – with Harvey contributing a two-run double to that rally.

For Harvey and his teammates, the victory was an opening statement in what they hope will be a successful run to the state tournament, something that eluded the Falcons last summer despite having the same 21-1 regular-season record they compiled this year. A year ago, the top-ranked Falcons were eliminated in the zone tournament.

“It’s definitely a motivation,” said Harvey. “After what happened last year, we wanted to come out today and set a tone, and we were able to get the bats going.”

Zak Bouzan-Kaloustian added a double and two singles for Brewer, while Kyle Dalton, Adam Sheehan and Marcus Boober had two hits apiece.

Right-hander Pat Moran (5-0) allowed three hits and no runs over six innings to earn the pitching win. He struck out four batters and walked one.

Calais (11-12) scored a pair of unearned runs in the seventh against Brewer reliever J.T. Davis. Derek Maloney, who went 2-for-2 after entering the game in the fourth inning, singled home one run, while pinch-hitter Chad Pike contributed a sacrifice fly.

FALCONS 14, SUNS 2

Calais (11-12) Brewer (22-1)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Ja. Ramsdell, c 4 0 0 0 Knight, cf 3 0

J. Macdonald, 3b 4 0 0 0 Bzn-Klstian, 2b 3 0

Colbeth, lf 3 0 1 0 Harvey, ss 5 2 5

Footer, 1b 3 0 0 0 Dalton, 1b 4 3 1

B. Maloney, ss 3 0 1 0 McAvoy, rf 4 0

Dyer, 2b 2 1 1 0 Sheehan, 3b 3 3 0

S. Macdonald, rf 2 0 0 0 Gifford, dh 3 1

Luddington, rf 1 1 0 0 Boober, c 2 2

Constant, cf 2 0 0 0 Mercer, lf 3 1 0

a-Pike 0 0 0 1

McLay, p 1 0 0 0

D. Maloney, p 2 0 2 1

Totals 27 2 5 2 Totals 30 14 13 9

a-hit sacrifice fly for Constant in 7th

Calais 000 000 0 ? 2

Brewer 005 405 x ? 14

E?J. Macdonald, Constant; Bouzan-Kaloustian 2, McAvoy; LOB?Calais 6, Brewer 8; 2B?B. Maloney; Harvey 2, Bouzan-Kaloustian; SF?Pike; Gifford; SB?Knight, Bouzan-Kaloustian, Harvey, Dalton 2, Sheehan 2

Calais IP H R ER BB SO

McLay (L, 2-3) 3 5 5 5 5 0

D. Constant 3 8 9 5 3 0

Brewer IP H R ER BB SO

Moran (W, 5-0) 6 3 0 0 1 4

Davis 1 2 2 0 0 0

HBP?Knight, by D. Constant; WP?McLay 5; Moran; BK?McLay; T?1:55; ATT?100 (est.)

LUMBER 2, COMRADES 1

Lincoln (14-9) Bangor (14-9)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Ham, p 4 0 1 0 N. Larochelle 2b 4 0

Gardner, lf 3 1 1 0 Means, ss 2 0 0

Flannery, 2b 3 1 0 0 B. Hackett, 3b 4 0 0

Leino, 3b 3 0 0 0 Murphy, dh 2 0 0

Malone, 1b 4 0 1 1 Young, p 2 1 0

Barnett, c 4 0 1 0 Dowe, c 3 0 0 0

Murchison, rf 4 0 1 0 Worster, 1b 2 0

Cousineau, ss 4 0 0 0 a-Chapman 0 0

Wark, cf 4 0 0 0 b-Eremita 0 0 0

Jor. Heath, cf 4 0 1 0

Jellison, lf 4 0 1 1

Hall, rf 3 0 0 0

Totals 33 2 5 1 Totals 30 1 3 1

a-walked for Worster in 9th; b-ran for Chapman in 9th

Lincoln 200 000 000 ? 2

Bangor 000 000 100 ? 1

E?Cousineau, Leino; N. Larochelle 2, Means 2; LOB?Lincoln 7, Bangor 7; DP?Cousineau to Flannery; Dowe to N. Larochelle; S?Gardner; Dowe; SB?Gardner; Means 2, Jor. Heath, Eremita

Lincoln IP H R ER BB SO

Ham (W, 5-0) 9 3 1 0 4 4

Home IP H R ER BB SO

Young (L, 5-3) 9 5 2 0 1 10

HBP?Leino by Young; PB?Dowe; T?1:55; ATT?200 (est.)