Hammond sparks ‘Jacks despite injury Left fielder’s HR in 11th beats Brockton

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BANGOR – Slowed by a nagging right hamstring injury, Bangor left fielder Derry Hammond still led the Bangor Lumberjacks with his glove and his bat Monday night with a game-saving catch and a game-winning home run.

Hammond’s 355-foot blast with one out in the bottom of the 11th inning gave Bangor a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over Brockton at Winkin Complex.

Hammond was given a second chance when both Brockton’s catcher and first baseman got their signals crossed and failed to catch a pop foul down the first base line. Two pitches later, he made the most of it.

“After the popup, I kind of figured they’d stay away and then I fouled off another down the third base line, but then he left a pitch a little up in the zone,” said Hammond, who hit his Northeast League-leading 14th homer.

Making his first start in left in eight days, Hammond came up big with two singles, the homer, and two RBIs. He also made what proved to be a game-saving catch on the left-field line to end the seventh with runners at second and third.

“It’s good to be back there. Whenever you have a nagging injury, it’s just good to be healthy enough to get out on the field,” said Hammond, whose leg probably could have used more rest. “Rest is what it needs, but whenever I can help the team … whenever I’m needed, I’m ready.”

Hammond’s effort had Bangor manager Kash Beauchamp singing his slugger’s praises and bemoaning his exclusion from next week’s league all-star game.

“He is in a category, power-wise, almost by himself in this league and he’s playing hurt,” he said. “I have been begging them to add him to the roster if someone’s hurt. It’s an injustice that he’s not on the team.

Bangor, now 23-21, was also paced by second baseman Rolando Bello, who made eight defensive plays (two unassisted putouts) and had a double, two singles and one RBI.

“This is huge. We gave that series away to North Shore and tonight we did what a good baseball team does. We battled back,” Bello said.

The 27-17 Rox cracked the scoreboard first with a run in the second. Bryan Jones and Saul Bustos started things off with back-to-back singles and Francisco Matos followed with a double to the center-field wall. Jones scored, but Bustos was gunned down at the plate by an 8-4-2 relay by center fielder Jake Whitesides to Bello to catcher Brad Hargreaves.

Brockton made it 2-0 in the fourth on a Jones leadoff double, a groundout, and a one-out fielder’s choice grounder by Jake Daubert.

Bangor tied it in the fourth via a leadoff single by Jose Garcia, his second of the game, a Bello RBI double to the left center warning track, and a Paul Powell RBI single up the middle. The Lumberjacks took a 3-2 lead in the fifth on Donnie Ross’ double to left center, and a Hammond RBI single to shallow right.

Brockton tied it up in the seventh, courtesy of a one-out Abner Arroyo double and a two-out single to right center by Chad Stewart.

LUMBERJACKS 4, ROX 3

(Monday Night, 11 innings)

Brockton (27-17) Bangor (23-21)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Stewart, cf 3 0 2 1 Whitesides, cf 6 0 0

Henriquez, 2b 5 0 1 0 Hargreaves, c 6 0

Smith, rf 6 0 0 0 Ross, 1b 3 1 0

Jones, c 5 2 2 0 Hammond, lf 5 1 2

Bustos, ss 5 0 2 0 Burke, dh 5 0 0

Matos, dh 4 0 1 1 Garcia, rf 2 1 0

Daubert, 3b 4 0 1 1 Kohno, rf 3 0 0

Arroyo, lf 4 1 1 0 Bello, 2b 4 1 1

Zacuto, 1b 4 0 2 0 Powell, 3b 4 0 1

Uchino, ss 4 0 2 0

Totals 40 3 12 3 Totals 42 4 15 4

Brockton 010 100 100 00 ? 3

Bangor 000 210 000 01 ? 4

E? Boker; LOB? Brockton 12, Bangor 14; 2B? Jones, Matos, Arroyo, Ross, Bello; HR? Hammond (14); DP? Brockton 1, Bangor 1; S? Stewart 2, Zacuto, Bello, Uchino; SB? Uchino

Brockton IP H R ER BB SO

Martin 4 1/3 8 3 3 2 3

Koch 2 2/3 1 0 0 0 1

Stutz 1 2 0 0 1 2

Runion 2 3 0 0 1 3

Bennett (L, 1-3) 1/3 1 1 1 0 1

Bangor IP H R ER BB SO

Scheuing 6 2/3 9 3 3 1 3

Boker 1 2/3 3 0 0 1 2

Pavlik 2 0 0 0 3 0

McKeller (W, 3-1) 2/3 0 0 0 0 0

HBP? Hammond by Martin; WP? Martin; PB? Jones; T? 3:37; ATT? 749