Shaffstall delivers as Monmouth tips Brewer Falcons ousted from tourney

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AUGUSTA – It was a game waiting for a big hit, and Adam Shaffstall delivered.

The Monmouth left fielder blasted a tie-breaking three-run home run in the sixth inning, and that propelled his team to a 12-5 victory over Brewer at Morton Field on Tuesday that eliminated the Falcons from the state American Legion baseball tournament.

Monmouth (22-7) advances to play Nova Seafood of Portland today, while Brewer ends its season with a 26-3 record, 1-2 in state tournament play. Wednesday’s other game will pit Andrews Post of Portland against Bessey Motors of South Paris.

Monmouth already had plated one run in the sixth inning off Brewer starter Andrew Patterson before Shaffstall greeted reliever Adam Sheehan by driving a 2-1 pitch beyond the 330-foot sign down the right-field line to give the Zone 2 runners-up a sudden, stunning 5-2 lead.

“I knew it was going to be a curve because of the way he was holding it in his hand,” said Shaffstall, who will be a junior at Oak Hill High School in Sabattus this fall. “He brought it right into the zone, and I got the good part of the bat on it.”

And Brewer never recovered.

Monmouth sent 10 batters to the plate in the seventh inning, scoring six more runs and nearly ending the game under the 10-run rule before settling for an 11-2 lead. Starting pitcher Pat Duchette hit a two-run single to highlight that rally.

Brewer got a solo homer from Kevin Kotredes – 3-for-3 in his first state tournament start – in the eighth inning and two more runs in the ninth on RBI singles by Jason Harvey (2-for-4) and Pat Moran, but the intensity that marked the early stages of this contest was long gone.

“It took some of the air out,” said Brewer coach David Morris of the Shaffstall home run. “I think everyone kind of felt it was a game where there was the opportunity for one hit to make the difference, and they got one hit that equaled three runs.”

Brewer held a 2-1 lead through five innings, but had chances to score more. The Falcons loaded the bases with one out in the first, but came up with just one run on a Kyle Dalton sacrifice fly that scored Zac Bouzan-Kaloustian, who reached on the first of his three singles.

Brewer then put its first two batters on base in the second, but again settled for a single run when Kyle Mercer’s sacrifice fly drove home Sheehan, who had hit a leadoff single.

Bouzan-Kaloustian singled again to lead off the third and reached third base before being stranded, and the Falcons left two more runners aboard in both the fourth and fifth innings.

“The timely hits didn’t come our way like they have been,” said Morris. “They let us hang around, and we let them hang around, and finally we let them hang around too long.”

Brewer got its third straight strong starting pitching performance, as Patterson allowed just one run and three hits over the first five innings before tiring in the sixth.

Mike Buckley, who relieved Duchette to start the sixth inning, earned the pitching win by allowing three hits and one run over three innings.

Seth Emery hit a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning to account for Monmouth’s first run, and he finished the day 3-for-4 (2 singles) with four runs scored and two RBIs. Cleanup hitter Josh Stroup added a double and two singles and three RBIs, while Duchette and Mark Wade had two singles each.

MONMOUTH 12, FALCONS 5

Brewer (26-3) Monmouth (22-7)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Knight, cf 4 1 0 0 Wade, rf/c 5 1 0

Bzn-Klstian, 2b 5 2 3 0 Emery, 3b 4 2

Harvey, ss 4 0 2 1 Muniz, 1b 4 1 0

Dalton, 1b 3 0 1 0 Stroup, ss 5 2 3

McAvoy, rf 2 0 0 1 Duchette, p-cf 4 1 2

Sutherland, rf 1 0 0 0 Shaffstall, lf 3 4

Wentworth, p 0 0 0 0 Buckley, c-p 4 0 0

Moran, 1b 1 0 1 1 Hinkley, p 0 0 0

Sheehan, 3b-p 4 1 1 0 McCarthy, cf-rf 2 0

Kotredes, dh-3b-rf 3 1 3 1 Gardner, 2b 3 0

Boober, c 3 0 0 0

Mercer, lf 2 0 0 1

Totals 32 5 11 5 Totals 34 12 12 11

Brewer 110 000 012 ? 5

Monmouth 100 004 61x ? 12

E? Bouzan-Kaloustian, Wentworth; Duchette; LOB?Brewer 10, Monmouth 5; 2B?Stroup; HR?Kotredes; Emery, Shaffstall; DP?Bouzan-Kaloustian-Dalton; Gardner-Stroup-Muniz; S?Boober; SF?McAvoy, Mercer; Shaffstall; SB?Kotredes; Emery, Stroup

Brewer IP H R ER BB SO

Patterson (L, 5-1) 5 2/3 4 4 4 3 1

Sheehan 1/3 1 3 3 2 0

Wentworth 0 2 3 3 1 0

Dalton 2 5 2 2 0 1

Monmouth IP H R ER BB SO

Duchette 5 5 2 2 5 3

Buckley (W, 3-1) 3 3 1 1 0 3

Hinkley 1 3 2 2 1 0

WP?Sheehan, Wentworth; Duchette, Buckley; PB?Boober; T?2:20; ATT?250 (est)