BREWER – If 2004’s first meeting of these cross-river rivals is any indication, fans are in for a treat whenever Brewer meets Bangor.

The Witches needed a last at-bat rally to hand Bangor its first loss of the season with a 6-5 softball victory at Coffin Field on a breezy and sunny Saturday afternoon.

With only three seniors in each team’s starting lineup, contributions will have to come from the new blood on the teams and the young guns stepped up for the 4-1 Witches.

“Anytime Bangor and Brewer play, it’s going to be this kind of battle. … I hope it’s that kind of battle,” said Rams coach Nancy Snowdeal. “With younger kids, there’s less focus on the rivalry and more focus on the game, but that intensity’s still there by the second inning.”

After going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, Brewer freshman Jordan McLain worked the count full in the bottom of the seventh before belting the seventh pitch from Bangor starter Kelly White to right-center for a game-winning, two-run double.

“I was looking for something I could hit and tried to make it a good one,” McLain said.

That wasn’t the only contribution McLain made. She also threw two innings of two-hit relief with two strikeouts, no walks, and one unearned run for her second win of the season.

McLain relieved Sarah DeFilipp, who Rams hitters were finally figuring out after four innings. McLain came on with no outs and a runner at third in the sixth after White’s RBI triple to left gave Bangor its first lead (3-2).

“I was a little nervous, so I just had to throw a couple to get it out of my system. I was a little surprised that I was going to pitch,” McLain said.

The Rams would score two more runs on an error, two passed balls, and a wild pitch, but McLain settled down after the first two batters.

“They hit her hard the last couple innings and we wanted to try something different. I just thought we needed to change the momentum,” said Kelly Cookson, coach of the 4-1 Witches. “Jordan’s a tough pitcher to catch because she throws hard and a lot of them are down in the dirt, so it took some time to get in sync.”

Brewer got two runs back in the sixth on Katie Quimby’s second single of the game, two fielder’s choice grounders, an error, DeFilipp’s two-out RBI single, and Amy Freeman’s bases-loaded walk. The last two runs were set up by Christine Thoms’ leadoff double in the seventh and Vanessa Michaud’s second single in as many innings. Thoms also had an RBI single in the first.

White had a triple and single to pace the 4-1 Rams while Kate Turner doubled and singled.

WITCHES 6, RAMS 5

(Saturday Afternoon)

Bangor (4-1) Brewer (4-1)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Tweedie, lf 3 0 0 0 DeFilipp, p-rf 4 1 1

Heath, ss 4 1 1 0 Freeman, ss 3 0 1

White, p 4 1 2 1 Corey, cf 4 0 0

Chase, rf 3 1 0 0 Thoms, 3b 4 0 1

Kowalski, 3b 3 0 1 0 a-Bennett 0 1 0

Turner, 1b 3 1 2 0 Michaud, lf 4 1 0

Porter, c 3 1 0 0 McLain, rf-p 4 0 2

Wright, 2b 3 0 1 0 Quimby, 2b 3 2 0

Gray, cf 3 0 1 0 Foster, dh 3 1 0

Doucette, c 0 0 0 0

Hanlon, 1b 3 0 1 1

Totals 29 5 8 1 Totals 32 6 11 6

a-ran for Thomas in 7th

Bangor 000 023 0 ? 5

Brewer 110 002 2 ? 6

E?Heath, Turner, Wright, Gray; Thoms, Quimby, Hanlon; LOB?Bangor 4, Brewer 9; 2B?Turner; Thoms, McLain; 3B?White; S?Tweedie; SB?White, Porter, Heath 2; Corey

Bangor IP H R ER BB SO

White (L, 4-1) 6 11 6 3 1 3

Brewer IP H R ER BB SO

DeFilipp 5 6 4 1 0 4

McLain (W, 2-0) 2 2 1 0 0 2

WP?McLain; PB?Porter; Doucette 5; T?1:35; ATT?300 (est.)