Brewer, Calais record wins in Zone 1 tourney

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BANGOR – Through two days of the American Legion Zone 1 baseball tournament, the Brewer Falcons have opted for the condensed version of post-season play.

Jason Harvey drove in four runs and Andy Wentworth pitched a seven-hitter as the top-seeded Falcons eliminated Penquis 12-2 in seven innings at Mansfield Stadium on Friday – the second time in as many days Brewer has won a game shortened from the scheduled nine innings by the 10-run rule.

“We come out and play hard, play good defense and get good pitching, and when the ball bounces our way the 10-run rule takes care of itself,” said Brewer coach David Morris.

Jake Knight added four singles and Nye Gifford had a double and two singles for the Falcons, who got two hits apiece from Kevin McAvoy and Pat Moran.

Brewer (23-1) plays a winners’ bracket game at noon today against Trenton. Trenton defeated Lincoln 7-3 in Friday night’s late game.

In Friday’s first game, Calais eliminated Bangor 12-4. Calais plays Lincoln at 4 p.m. today.

Harvey was walked intentionally three times by Penquis righthander James Gray, but hit a two-run triple and a two-run single in his other at-bats. The single sparked a three-run rally in the bottom of the seventh that ended the game.

With Brewer leading 9-2, Knight singled and Zak Bouzan-Kaloustian reached on an error. After a double steal, both runners scored on Harvey’s single to center. Harvey advanced on a wild pitch, then scored the game-ending run on McAvoy’s single to center.

Wentworth threw just 84 pitches while striking out three batters and walking two.

“I just wanted to keep the ball around the plate and let the defense do the job,” he said.

That defense was led by third baseman Adam Sheehan, who made a pair of diving stops to thwart Penquis threats.

Harvey’s triple helped Brewer grab a 3-0 first-inning lead.

Penquis (13-11) drew within 3-1 in the second as Gray drew a leadoff walk and scored on a sacrifice fly by Joey Kane.

Brewer scored an unearned run in the fifth before breaking loose for five runs in the sixth, a rally featuring two-run singles by Sheehan and Gifford.

Penquis scored its final run in the top of the seventh. One-out singles by Kane, Seth Strout and Caleb Pelletier loaded the bases before Kane scored on a Jason Weymouth groundout.

Earlier in the day, Calais pounded out 23 hits in its win against Bangor. The first three batters in the Suns’ lineup, James Ramsdell, James Macdonald and Steve Colbeth, each had four hits, combining to go 12-for-16 with 10 runs scored. No. 5 hitter Ben Maloney went 4-for-6 with five RBIs.

The Calais lead was just 5-3 through seven innings, but the Suns (12-12) scored four runs in the top of the eighth to take control. Maloney had the key hit, an opposite-field triple that drove home two runs. Calais added three more runs in the ninth on RBI singles by Colbeth, Maloney and Chris Dyer.

Scott Macdonald pitched a complete-game eight-hitter for the Suns. He struck out nine and walked three while throwing 149 pitches.

“My arm really didn’t get tired at all, ” said Macdonald, who effectively worked the outside corner of the plate and retired 10 of 11 batters during one stretch between the fifth and eighth innings. “In the fourth inning I started struggled with my curve, but I changed and started going more with my fastball.”

Calais never trailed after scoring twice off Bangor starter Billy Chapman in the top of the first inning. The Suns pushed their lead to 4-0 with two more runs in the fourth on RBI singles by Colbeth and Maloney.

Bangor (14-10) cut the gap to 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth, a rally keyed by a Brian Hackett double and RBI singles by P.J. Dowe and Brian Worster. The Comrades made it a one-run game in the fifth on another RBI single by Dowe.

Calais extended its lead to 5-3 in the sixth, as Colbeth doubled and scored on back-to-back singles by Joe Footer and Maloney.

SUNS 12, COMRADES 4

Calais (12-12) Bangor (14-10)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Ja. Ramsdell, cf 6 3 4 0 N. Larochelle, 2b 0

J. Macdonald, 3b 6 3 4 0 a-S. Hackett 1 0

Colbeth, lf 4 4 4 2 Means, ss 3 0 0

Footer, 1b 5 1 2 1 b-Nelson 1 0 0

B. Maloney, ss 6 1 4 5 B. Hackett, 3b 4 0

Dyer, 2b 4 0 2 2 c-Murphy 1 0 0

S. Macdonald, p 5 0 2 1 Young, 1b 5 1

Pike, c 5 0 0 0 Dowe, dh 4 0 2

Constant, rf 5 0 1 0 Nason, p 1 0 0

Worster, c 2 0 1 1

Jellison, lf 4 0 0 0

Jor. Heath cf 4 0 0 0

Hall, rf 3 0 1 0

d-Eremita 1 1 0 0

Totals 46 12 23 11 Totals 38 4 8 4

a-reached on error for N. Larochelle in 9th, b-grounded out for Means in 9th, c-struck out for B. Hackett in ninth, d-reached on error for Hall in 9th

Calais 200 201 043 ? 12

Bangor 000 210 001 ? 4

E?J. Macdonald, Footer 2; Young, Means; LOB?Calais 14, Bangor 10; 2B?Colbeth, J. Ramsdell; B. Hackett, Means; 3B?B. Maloney; DP?N. Larochelle to Young, Means to N. Larochelle to Young; SF?S. Macdonald; SB?B. Maloney

Calais IP H R ER BB SO

S. Macdonald (W, 2-4) 9 8 4 2 3 9

Home IP H R ER BB SO

Chapman (L, 4-2) 4 9 4 3 4 6

Josh Heath 4 9 5 5 2 2

Nason 1 5 3 3 0 1

WP?S. Macdonald 3; T?2:37; ATT?175 (est.)

FALCONS 12, NAVIGATORS 2

Penquis (13-11) Brewer (23-1)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Weymouth, 1b 3 0 0 1 Knight 5 3 4 0

Day, 2b 4 0 1 0 Bzn-Kalustian, 2b 4 0

Withee, cf 3 0 1 0 Harvey, ss 2 3 4

Gray, p 2 1 1 0 McAvoy, rf 4 1 1

Russell, ss 3 0 0 0 Sheehan, 3b 4 1 2

Morrison, 3b 3 0 1 0 Moran, 1b 4 2 2

Kane, c 2 1 1 1 Gifford, dh 4 0 1

Strout, lf 3 0 1 0 Boober, c 4 0 0

C. Pelletier, rf 3 0 1 0 Mercer, lf 4 0

Totals 26 2 7 2 Totals 35 12 15 10

Penquis 010 000 1 ? 2

Brewer 300 015 3 ? 12

E?Strout, Russell; LOB?Penquis 6, Brewer 8; 2B?Gifford; 3B?Gray; Harvey; SF?Kane; SB?Morrison; Knight, Bouzan-Kaloustian

Penquis IP H R ER BB SO

Gray (L, 5-4) 6 2/3 15 12 8 5 9

Home IP H R ER BB SO

Wentworth (W, 4-1) 7 7 2 2 2 3

Two outs in 7th when 10-run rule came into effect.

WP?Gray 4; Wentworth; T?1:46; ATT?150 (est.)