Bangor, Penquis need victories today

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AUGUSTA – Zone 1 champion Bangor did what few American Legion or Maine high school baseball teams have done in recent years Wednesday, force a blown save from righthander Ryan Reid.

But Reid and his teammates from three-time defending champion Nova Seafood of Portland had just enough extra offense in reserve, scoring twice in the top of the ninth to outlast the Comrades 7-5 during the opening day of the state Legion tournament.

With the loss, Bangor drops into the losers’ bracket of the double-elimination event, as does Zone 1 runner-up Penquis, which fell to Zone 4 champ Andrews Post of Portland 13-5.

Both Zone 1 teams will play in 9 a.m. elimination games Thursday, as the schedule has been pushed up in anticipation of inclement weather.

Penquis will play at Morton Field against Zone 3 runner-up Locke Mills, which lost 4-2 to Zone 2 champion Gardiner. Bangor will play at the adjacent McGuire Field against Zone 2 runner-up Monmouth, which lost to Zone 3 champ Bessey Motors 7-4.

The Nova Seafood-Bessey Motors and Andrews-Gardiner games will follow at 12:30 p.m.

Nova Seafood, the Zone 4 runner-up made up of players from reigning Class A high school state champion Deering High of Portland, took a 4-0 first-inning lead against Bangor, capitalizing on an error, two wild pitches and RBI hits by Ryan Flaherty and Scott Brown.

“Their reputation as a team over the last six or seven years, their aggressiveness, and their ability to play in big games caught us off-guard a little bit in the first inning,” said Bangor coach Jay Kemble, “and that was my main concern coming into the game.”

But Comrades’ righthander Josh Young allowed no runs on four hits over the next six innings to enable his team to rally.

“You’ve got to give [Young] credit, he battled and when we got runners on he stayed tough,” said Nova coach Mike D’Andrea. “You’ve got to give their whole team credit, they played a great game.”

Bangor (23-4) scored three runs in the sixth, two on an Alex Means two-out single off Nova starter Mike Powers, to pull to within a run. After Nova scored once in the top of the eighth on an RBI single by Josh Stowell, Bangor tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the inning.

Nate Hall singled and went to third on Phil Cayford’s one-out double against Brown, who relieved Powers at the start of the inning. Both runners scored when Means singled off Reid, who had relieved Brown one batter earlier.

“Josh kept us in the game,” said Kemble. “As each inning went on and it stayed at 4-0, it gave the kids some confidence until we were able to chip away. Alex Means came up with two very big hits to plate four runs, and that gave the kids confidence, too.”

But Nova (24-3) had one final answer in the ninth. Andrew Dvlinsky legged out a leadoff double to left, and scored on back-to-back singles by Mike D’Andrea (the coach’s son, who reached on a bunt) and Chris Burleson to give his team a 6-5 lead. D’Andrea went to third on a fielder’s choice by Flaherty, and scored the game’s final run on a bases-loaded walk to Reid.

Reid struck out two of the three Bangor batters he faced in the bottom of the ninth to preserve the win.

Hall, Nick Larochelle, P.J. Dowe and Means each had two singles for Bangor. Dvlinsky and Reid each doubled and singled for Nova.

Penquis (16-11) took a 4-1 lead with four runs in the second inning against Andrews righthander Rocco Toppi, a rally that featured a two-out, two-run single by Joey Kane.

Righthander James Gray made that lead stand up for much of the game, shaking off occasional wildness (eight walks, three hit batsmen) thanks in part to a pair of double plays triggered by shortstop Danny White.

Andrews scored once in the bottom of the second, then took a 5-4 lead with three runs on two hits in the fifth. Penquis tied the game in the sixth as Josh Pelletier walked, went to third on singles by Ethan Annis and Mark Pullen, and scored on a double-play grounder by White.

Andrews (22-4) finally roughed up Gray in the seventh, sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring eight runs on six hits. Devin McNeill hit a two-run single, while Malcolm Cone-Coleman, Joe Fessenden and Craig Larochelle also had RBI hits. Joey Martin capped the rally with a two-run homer off reliever Chris Rabideau.

“We came out and for six innings we were right there with them,” said Penquis coach Billy Kane, “but one bad inning is all it takes and it just happened to be the seventh for us. They’re a good-hitting ball team, and after a while they’re probably going to get to just about any pitcher.”

Cone-Coleman combined with McNeill to pitch four innings of one-hit shutout relief for Andrews.

Gray, Pullen and Eric Day each had two singles for Penquis. Martin paced Andrews with a home run, single, two walks, three runs scored, two RBIs and two stolen bases, while Fessenden drove in three runs with two singles and a bases-loaded walk.

NOVA SEAFOOD 7, COMRADES 5

Nova (24-3) Bangor (23-4)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

D’Andrea, 2b 5 2 1 0 N.LaRochelle,2b 4 1 0

Burleson, rf 4 1 2 1 Hall, rf 4 2 0

Flaherty, ss 5 1 1 1 Hackett, 3b 1 1 0

Brown, 1b-p 5 1 1 1 Cayford, lf 3 0 1

Reid, cf-p 3 1 2 1 Heath, lf 0 1 0

Stowell, dh 4 0 2 1 Young, p 4 0 0

Piacentini, dh 1 0 0 0 Means, ss 4 4

Skillin, lf 4 0 0 0 M.LaRochelle, 1b 4 0

Dvlinsky, 3b 4 1 2 0 Dowe, c 4 0 2 0

Esposito, c 4 0 1 1 Eremita, cf 4 0 0

Totals 39 7 12 6 Totals 32 5 10 5

Nova Seafood 400 000 012 ? 7

Bangor 000 003 020 ? 5

E?Powers, Skillin; Hackett, M. LaRochelle; LOB?Nova 8, Bangor 5; 2B?Flaherty, Reid; Cayford; DP?Bangor 1

Nova Seafood IP H R ER BB SO

Powers 7 7 3 3 3 8

Brown 1/3 2 2 2 0 0

Reid (W,8-1) 1 2/3 1 0 0 0 4

Bangor IP H R ER BB SO

Young (L,3-2) 9 12 7 6 2 5

HBP?Burleson by Young; Hackett by Powers; WP?Young; PB?Esposito; T?2:15; ATT?250 (est.)

ANDREWS POST 13, NAVIGATORS 5

Penquis (16-11) Andrews (22-4)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

White, ss 4 0 0 1 McNeill, 3b-p 3 1 2

J.Kane, c 4 0 1 2 Cone-Colmn,ss-p 3 3 1

Rabideau, p 1 0 0 0 Martin, cf 3 3 2

Weymouth, lf 4 0 1 0 Grimaldi, rf 4 2 0

D.Kane, ph 1 0 0 0 Fessenden, dh-lf 3 3

Gray, p-rf 4 1 2 0 Nealley, c 4 0 0

Withee, cf 4 0 0 0 Larochelle, 1b 5 1 2

Pelletier, 1b 2 2 0 0 O’Brion, 2b 2 0

Annis, 3b 4 0 1 0 Call, lf 2 0 0

Pullen, rf-c 4 1 2 0 DeFilipp, ss-3b 1 0 0

Totals 36 5 9 3 Totals 30 13 9 10

Penquis 040 001 000 ? 5

Andrews 110 030 80x ? 13

E?McNeill 2, Day, Cone-Coleman; LOB?Penquis 7, Andrews 6; 2B?Fessenden; HR?Martin; DP?Penquis 2, Andrews 1; S?DeFillipp; SB?Martin 2, Grimaldi, Cone-Coleman

Penquis IP H R ER BB SO

Gray (L,4-3) 6 2/3 8 12 11 8 3

Rabideau 1 1/3 1 1 1 0 0

Andrews IP H R ER BB SO

Toppi 5 8 5 1 2 4

Cone-Coleman(W,3-0) 2 1 0 0 0 2

McNeill 2 0 0 0 0 1

WP?Gray 2; HB?White by Toppi; Grimaldi by Gray, Nealley by Gray, O’Brion by Gray; T?2:17; Att.?150 (est.)