Brewer, Bangor to battle Rivals unbeaten in tournament

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BANGOR – Bangor and Calais both found the comeback trail to their liking during Day 2 of the American Legion Zone 1 baseball tournament Friday afternoon.

Top-seeded Bangor remained undefeated in the double-elimination event, rallying from a 7-0 deficit to oust No. 3 Trenton 13-9 at Mansfield Stadium.

Earlier in the day, No. 5 Calais used five innings of shutout relief pitching from Scott Macdonald to climb past No. 6 Lincoln 7-6 in an elimination game.

Brewer’s bats produced again in the late game as the No. 2 Falcons pounded out 14 hits in their 14-7 victory over No. 4 Penquis.

Brewer, also unbeaten in the tourney, will now battle rival Bangor at 4 p.m. Saturday while Calais will face Penquis in an elimination game at 8 p.m.

Bangor (22-3) looked in trouble when Trenton scored five runs after two were out in the top of the third for a 7-0 lead.

There was concern, to be sure, but no panic.

“I was actually kind of glad to be in that situation,” said Comrades’ outfielder Nate Hall, “because it just gets you going more.”

It took Bangor just two innings to erase the deficit as the Comrades scored four runs in the bottom of the third and five runs after two were out in the fourth to take a 9-7 lead.

Bangor relievers Josh Heath and Brian Hackett then combined to limit Trenton to two runs on four hits over the last four innings in support of starter Anthony DeRosa.

Bangor also turned a pair of rally-killing double plays late in the game to frustrate the Acadians, who stranded 15 baserunners.

Trenton (15-9) had two on with one out in the seventh, but Bangor first baseman Josh Young and shortstop Alex Means combined to turn a 3-6-3 double play.

After scoring only once before leaving the bases loaded in the eighth, the Acadians loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth – but again just one run scored before Hackett turned a comebacker to the mound into a game-ending 1-6-3 DP.

“The one thing we’ve done for the last 10 or 12 days is make key defensive plays when we’ve needed to,” said Bangor coach Jay Kemble. “When you do that, you eliminate the extension of innings and it gives your team a chance to be successful.”

Larochelle and Hall, the 1-2 batters in the Bangor lineup, combined for six hits. Larochelle had an RBI double and two singles and scored three runs; Hall had three singles including a two-out, two-run hit in the seventh that extended the Comrades’ lead to 12-7.

Hackett contributed a triple, single, and three RBIs for Bangor, while Alex Means doubled and singled, and Young had two RBI singles. Jason Eremita added an RBI triple, while P.J. Dowe scored three runs.

“The bats have been there for the last 10 or 12 days,” said Kemble. “We knew we were going to score runs, it was just a matter of when we were going to get them.”

Trenton righthander Arshwin Asjes, who pitched the first 6 2/3 innings, had three singles and three walks to pace the Acadians’ attack. Leadoff hitter Mark Clapp reached base five times (single, three walks, and hit by pitch), while Collin Henry doubled and singled and Will Rosenthal and Blake Wessel each singled twice. Wessel had three RBIs, two on a third-inning single.

In Friday’s first game, Macdonald limited Lincoln to four hits while striking out two and walking none in his relief stint as Calais earned its first win of the tournament.

“I had a good tail on my fastball because of the breeze that was blowing across,” he said. “My curve wasn’t breaking that much, but I tried to keep them off-balance.”

“He threw strikes,” added catcher James Ramsdell. “He didn’t get behind many batters, started off pretty good with strikes, and that’s always good.”

Trailing 6-4, the Suns took the lead for good with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. That rally included a single by Corey Colbeth, a bases-loaded walk to Russ McLean, and a sacrifice fly by Steve Colbeth.

Ramsdell and Josh Francis each had three singles for the Suns. Steve Colbeth added a double, single, and sacrifice fly, while Corey Colbeth singled twice and Macdonald singled and drew three walks.

“We went up there swinging, but we also took a lot of pitches and the walks helped a lot,” Ramsdell said.

Jeremy Ham led Lincoln with a double and three singles. Tom Lasko doubled and singled, while Jason Murchison singled twice.

Lincoln took a 5-1 lead with four runs in the top of the third, a rally fueled by four Calais errors and a two-run single by Steve Whitney.

Calais countered with three runs in the bottom of the inning, but Lincoln added a run in the fourth to take its 6-4 lead.

In the late game, Brewer’s Pat Moran allowed just six hits and three walks while striking out to beat Penquis.

Moran aided his own cause with a double, single and four RBIs.

Andrew Patterson and Zac Bouzan-Kaloustian each had three singles with two RBIs for Brewer. Joe Robichaud doubled with two RBIs and Kevin Kotredes singled twice with an RBI.

Ethan Annis hit two singles to knock in three runs for Penquis. Danny White tripled with a RBI and Josh Withee doubled.

(Friday’s First Game)

Lincoln (11-13) 014 100 000 – 6 11 2

Calais (13-11) 103 030 00x – 7 12 5

Worster, Whitney (5) and Lasko; B. Maloney, Macdonald (5) and Ja. Ramsdell

(Friday’s Third Game)

Penquis (14-10) 032 200 000 – 7 6 3

Brewer (21-4) 200 720 21x – 14 14 7

Gray, Withee (7) and J. Kane; Moran and Robichaud

COMRADES 13, ACADIANS 9

Trenton (15-9) Bangor (22-3)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Clapp ss 2 1 1 1 N. Larochelle 2b 4 1

Cousins rf-2b 4 2 1 0 Hall rf-3b 6 2

Henry 1b-rf 5 1 2 0 Hackett 3b-p 4 2 3

Asjes p-1b 3 2 3 0 Cayford dh-lf 4 1 1

Hines c 5 0 1 1 Young 1b 5 1 2

Rosenthal 2b-p 5 0 2 1 Means ss 5 2

Wessel 3b 5 1 2 3 M. Larochelle lf-rf 3 0

Ciomei lf 5 1 1 1 Dowe c 4 3 0 0

Pooler cf 3 1 1 1 Eremita cf 5 1 1

Muise ph 1 0 0 0

Smith cf 0 0 0 0

Totals 38 9 14 8 Totals 40 13 13 12

Trenton 205 000 000 ? 9

Bangor 004 500 31x ? 13

E?Clapp 2, Rosenthal, Cousins; Eremita, N. Larochelle; LOB?Trenton 15, Bangor 10; 2B?Ciomei, Henry; N. Larochelle, Means; 3B?Hackett, Eremita; DP?Bangor 2; S?Hines; M. Larochelle; SB?Clapp; Means

Trenton IP H R ER BB SO

Asjes (L, 2-2) 6 2/3 11 12 3 4 7

Rosenthal 1 1/3 2 1 1 1 0

Bangor IP H R ER BB SO

DeRosa (W, 6-0) 5 10 7 7 5 5

Heath 2 1/3 3 1 1 1 0

Hackett (Save) 1 2/3 1 1 0 3 0

DeRosa pitched to two batters in sixth.

HBP?Clapp (by DeRosa), Rosenthal (by Heath), Cousins (by Heath); N. Larochelle (by Rosenthal); WP?Asjes; T?2:46; ATT?110 (est.)