Third time the charm for Rams’ DeRosa Junior hurls perfect game vs. Crusaders

BANGOR – Anthony DeRosa has flirted with perfection more than once this spring.

The junior righthander from Bangor High School retired the first 10 batters he faced in a 5-1 complete-game baseball victory at Brewer on May 1.

Ten days later, he came within one strike of pitching a perfect seven innings against Hampden Academy, only to walk the 21st batter he faced and eventually drop a 3-0 decision.

“Everybody was coming up and saying good game, good game,” said DeRosa. “But it was kind of tough because we didn’t win.”

DeRosa didn’t get the chance to pitch to 21 batters in his most recent start at Mansfield Stadium on Saturday – but he finally got his perfect game, retiring all 18 batters he faced as the Rams earned a 7-0 victory over John Bapst of Bangor in a game halted after six innings by rain.

He struck out six batters while helping Bangor complete a doubleheader sweep – the Rams edged the Crusaders in the opener 5-4 – and improve its record to 13-2 heading into Wednesday night’s scheduled regular-season finale at Brewer.

“Anthony just pitched his typical game,” said Bangor coach Jeff Fahey, whose club is riding a seven-game win streak. “He had his good curve and fastball.

“John Bapst had hit the ball pretty well in the first game, but Anthony kept them off balance and got a lot of first-pitch strikes, [senior catcher] P.J. [Dowe] called a good game, and the defense did its job.”

For Fahey and many of the Bangor players, the thought of DeRosa pitching a perfect game was a familiar notion, but not one that came immediately to mind as Saturday’s game progressed.

“I don’t think too many people thought a lot about it for a while, because for Anthony it was sort of a typical game,” said Fahey. “I don’t think I realized what he had going until the fourth inning because at that point it was just a 2-0 game, a fairly tight game, and I was more concerned with us scoring some runs.”

Bangor finally did break the game open, scoring twice in the top of the fifth inning and three runs in the sixth before the game was halted.

“My arm felt really good before the game,” DeRosa said. “I went mostly with the fastball and curve, and threw a couple of changeups. I only threw 60-something pitches, so even when the game was called, I still felt good.”

DeRosa has teamed with senior righthander Josh Young to give Bangor a formidable 1-2 punch at the top of its pitching rotation thanks largely to pinpoint control.

In 25 innings this spring, he has allowed only eight walks – one intentional and four others coming during an opening-day loss to Presque Isle played in nasty conditions including temperatures in the 30s and wind gusts approaching 50 miles per hour.

“Anthony hasn’t had to throw an awful lot of pitches this year,” said Fahey. “He’s had real good control and hasn’t gotten behind in the count on too many batters.”