‘Jacks defeat Aces for 3rd straight win Hot Hammond hits two home runs

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BANGOR – The unusually cold June temperatures couldn’t cool off the hot bat of Bangor’s Derry Hammond at Winkin Complex Thursday night.

Hammond continued his torrid pace with two home runs – his third and fourth in the last three days – and drove in five runs to back a solid outing by Adam Thomas and lead Bangor to a 7-3 win over the Aces.

Thomas (3-3) allowed six hits and two runs in seven innings while notching six strikeouts and two walks.

“He could have gotten big league hitters out tonight with his stuff,” said Bangor manager Kash Beauchamp, whose team is now 13-14 with a third straight win. “On a hot night, he probably throws a complete game.”

Thomas, who credited fellow pitcher Lance Calmus and pitching coach Kevin Pincavitch for helping him correct a flaw in his delivery, threw 61 of his 100 pitches for strikes to give the Lumberjacks their third straight quality start.

“All you have to do against any team is get ahead with your offspeed stuff and spot your fastball. Tonight everything was in sync,” Thomas said. “And we seem to have the defense and the timely pitching with the timely hitting.”

Hammond started the offensive fireworks for Bangor with a leadoff homer in the fourth. He smacked a 2-2 fastball to left- center for a 360-foot blast.

“I think the biggest key for me overall now is swinging at strikes instead of chasing pitchers’ pitches,” said the West Point, Miss., native. “One of our goals this year is to have the lowest number of strikeouts in the league, so we’re concentrating on having a two-strike approach and putting the ball in play.”

He made it 4-0 one inning later with two on and two outs. This time, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Hammond belted the first pitch he saw from Geronimo Mendoza off the top of the wall in right for a 331-foot shot.

“I was just looking for a fastball right there and it didn’t matter what part of the plate it went to,” Hammond said.

A Mark Burke single, walk to Jose Garcia, passed ball on a third strike to Hide Masawa, and a two-run single by Paul Powell to shallow right made it 6-0.

The 4-21 Aces broke through for two runs in the seventh. After a leadoff double by Greg Schmidt, who led the team with two doubles and a single, Mike Davis walked and Alfrede Corbeil reached on a fielder’s choice that erased Schmidt. After Coby Smith walked to load the bases, J.P. Schmidt singled to shallow right and drove in two.

Bangor tacked on an extra run in the eighth without the benefit of a hit.

LUMBERJACKS 7, ACES 3

Aces (4-21) Bangor (13-14)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Doakes, lf 5 0 0 0 Uchino, ss 3 0 0

Larking, 1b 4 0 1 0 Bello, 2b 5 0 0

G.Schmidt, rf-c 4 1 3 0 Whitesides, cf 2 0

Davis, 2b 3 1 1 0 Ross, dh 3 1 0

Corbeil, dh 4 1 2 1 Hammond, lf 5 2 5

Valera, c 2 0 0 0 Burke, lb 4 1 0

Smith, cf 1 0 0 0 J.Garcia, rf 3 1 0

J.Schmidt, 3b 4 0 1 2 Misawa, c 3 0

E.Garcia, ss 2 0 0 0 Powell, 3b 4 0 2

Hileman, cf-rf 4 0 0 0

Totals 33 3 8 3 Totals 32 7 8 7

Aces 000 000 210 ? 3

Bangor 000 150 01x ? 7

E?; LOB? Aces 7, Lumberjacks 12; 2B? G. Schmidt 2; HR? Hammond 2 (9); DP? Bangor 1; SB?Uchino, Whitesides, J.Garcia

Aces IP H R ER BB SO

Mendoza (L,0-6) 4 2/3 8 6 4 5 6

Devenney 2 1/3 0 0 0 4 3

Francis 1 0 1 1 2 0

Bangor IP H R ER BB SO

Thomas (W,3-3) 7 6 2 2 2 6

Parker 1 2 1 1 0 1

Huguet 1 0 0 0 1 1

HBP? E.Garcia by Thomas; WP? Devenney; PB? G. Schmidt 2; T? 3:05; ATT? 900 (est.)