AUGUSTA – Bangor and Penquis bowed quietly out of the state American Legion baseball tournament Thursday, both unable to muster enough offense to provide a sufficient margin for error elsewhere.

The Zone 1 representatives suffered their second defeats in as many days in this eight-team, double-elimination event, Bangor losing to Monmouth 7-3 and Penquis falling to Locke Mills 12-1 in a game that ended after seven innings due to the 10-run rule.

Six teams still remain, including pre-tournament favorites Nova Seafood and Andrews Post, both of Portland. Nova Seafood, the three-time defending state champion, defeated Bessey Motors of South Paris 17-3 in a seven-inning game, while Andrews topped Gardiner 7-3.

Nova Seafood and Andrews, will play in a battle of the unbeatens at 4 p.m. Friday. That game will be preceded by two elimination contests, Monmouth against Gardiner at 10 a.m. and Locke Mills against Bessey Motors at 1 p.m.

Both Bangor and Penquis used high-powered offenses to emerge from the Zone 1 tournament, Bangor as the champion and Penquis as the runner-up. But during the state tourney, particularly Thursday, offense fell victim to superior pitching and defense.

“Down here it’s not so much outslugging other teams, it’s playing defense and making pitches and limiting the opportunities of other teams,” said Bangor coach Jay Kemble. “We didn’t do that today.”

Pat Duchette, a 2004 graduate of Oak Hill High School of Wales, both pitched and hit Monmouth past the Comrades. He belted a 3-0 fastball from Bangor starter Anthony DeRosa over the right-field fence to give the Zone 2 runners-up a 3-0 first-inning lead.

“Off the bat I was saying ‘Get out, get out,’ because I knew that’s all I had a chance for because otherwise the outfielder was going to catch it,” said Duchette. “I was definitely ahead in the count, and I figured [DeRosa] would come with a fastball. My philosophy all year is to jump on the pitch that I like.”

On the mound, Duchette flirted with danger early. He walked two batters and hit a third in the bottom of the first only to emerge unscathed, then stranded two more Bangor baserunners in the second.

From there the lefthander settled down, holding the Comrades scoreless until his final inning, the seventh. Of his 21 outs, 13 were popups or flyouts.

“After the second inning he was around the strike zone more consistently, and he was able to get his breaking ball in,” said Kemble. “We had a number of lazy fly balls that helped him have some easy innings.”

Trailing 5-0, Bangor (23-5) struck for a two-out rally against Duchette in the seventh. Nick Larochelle singled to left, and Nate Hall followed with an infield single to the shortstop hole. Larochelle scored on Brian Hackett’s double down the left-field line, and Phil Cayford grounded a two-run single to center to draw the Comrades within 5-3.

Duchette gave way to right-hander Brian Gardner in the eighth, and he retired the final six Bangor batters after Alex Means opened the eighth by reaching on Monmouth’s lone error.

Larochelle and Cayford each singled twice to account for the bulk of Bangor’s seven-hit attack, while Duchette homered and singled to pace 20-5 Monmouth.

“We didn’t deserve to win today,” said Kemble. “They outplayed us, they outcoached us, we were flat and they deserved to win.”

A two-run double by David Roberge with two outs in the second inning provided Locke Mills righthander Kyle Kipikas all the offensive support he needed against Penquis. The Cheverus of Portland product pitched a four-hitter with five strikeouts and just one walk.

“I give all the credit to their pitcher and catcher [Anthony Liberti] for the way they sequenced the game,” said Penquis coach Billy Kane. “We were sitting on a lot of 2-0 and 2-1 counts waiting for that fastball, then here comes the breaking stuff and it really slowed our bats up and we just drove the ball into the ground.”

Liberti added a solo home run off Penquis lefty Jason Weymouth in the third inning, and the Zone 3 runners-up added three more runs in the fourth for a 7-0 advantage.

Penquis (16-12) threatened in the fifth when Josh Withee hit a leadoff single and reached third as Josh Pelletier reached on an error. But Kipikas retired the next three batters on a strikeout and two comebackers to the mound.

Locke Mills (19-6) pushed its lead to 12-0 with five runs in the top of the seventh.

Penquis ended Kipikas’ shutout bid in the bottom of the inning, as Withee walked, stole second, went to third on a single by Ethan Annis and scored on a fielder’s choice grounder by Mark Pullen.

Roberge had two doubles, a single and four RBIs from the No. 9 spot in the Locke Mills batting order. Shawn Marr added a double and two singles. Weymouth had two doubles for Penquis.

“Any coach will tell you that pitching and defense is what wins championships,” said Kane. “It wasn’t that we didn’t have the pitching or the defense, it’s just that our hitting didn’t keep up with our pitching and defense down here. The pitchers threw strikes and kept us off balance, especially today.”

MONMOUTH 7, BANGOR 3

Monmouth (20-5) Bangor (23-5)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Wade, cf-3b 5 1 1 1 N. Larochelle, 2b 4 0

Labbe, 2b 3 0 1 1 Hall, rf 4 1 0

Eaton, lf-cf 4 1 1 0 Hackett, 3b 5 1 1

Duchette, p-1b 4 1 2 3 Cayford, dh-p 3 2

Hasenfus, c 5 1 2 0 Young, 1b 4 0 0

Holbrook, rf 5 1 1 0 Means, ss 4 0 0

Ogden, ss 5 0 1 1 Dowe, c 4 0 1 0

Bisson, 1b 1 2 1 0 Jor. Heath, lf-cf 3 0

Schrepper, lf 1 0 0 0 Eremita, cf 2 0

Gardner, 3b-p 4 0 0 0 M. Larochelle, lf 0

Totals 37 7 10 6 Totals 35 3 7 3

Monmouth 310 100 002 ? 7

Bangor 000 000 300 ? 3

E?Wade; N. Larochelle, Hackett; LOB?Monmouth 11, Bangor 9; 2B?Eaton; Hackett; HR?Duchette; DP?; S?Labbe, Gardner; SB?Holbrook, Hasenfus

Monmouth IP H R ER BB SO

Duchette (W,3-0) 7 7 3 3 3 5

Gardner 2 0 0 0 0 3

Bangor IP H R ER BB SO

DeRosa (L,6-1) 6 6 5 5 2 3

Jos. Heath 2 1/3 4 2 2 1 2

Cayford 2/3 0 0 0 0 1

HBP?Labbe, Bisson by DeRosa; N. LaRochelle by Duchette; WP?DeRosa, Cayford; PB?Dowe; T?2:10; ATT?120 (est)

LOCKE MILLS 12, PENQUIS 1 (7 inns.)

Locke Mills (19-6) Penquis (16-12)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Olson, ss 5 1 1 0 White, ss 4 0 0

Brooks, dh 4 0 0 0 J. Kane, c 3 0 0

Wing, cf 5 0 2 1 Weymouth, p 3 0 0

Liberti, c 3 2 1 1 Rabideau, p 0 0 0

McAllister, 3b 5 2 2 0 Gray, rf 2 0

Marr, lf 4 2 3 1 Day, 2b 3 0 0 0

Ross, 1b 3 1 1 0 Withee, cf 2 1 0

Reiss, rf 3 2 1 1 Pelletier, 1b 3 0 0

Roberge, 2b 4 2 3 4 Annis, 3b 3 0 1

Pullen, lf 3 0 0 0

Totals 36 12 14 8 Totals 26 1 4 1

Locke Mills 021 310 5 ? 12

Penquis 000 000 1 ? 1

E?Weymouth, Pullen; McAllister; LOB?Locke Mills 8, Penquis 8; 2B?Roberge 2, Marr; Weymouth; HR?Liberti; S?Ross; SB?Roberge, Wing, Ross, Reiss, Liberti; Withee

Locke Mills IP H R ER BB SO

Kipikas (W) 7 4 1 1 1 5

Penquis IP H R ER BB SO

Weymouth (L,5-2) 6 1/3 13 11 9 3 7

Rabideau 2/3 1 1 1 2 0

WP?Weymouth 2, Rabideau; BK?Kipikas; T?1:40; ATT?100 (est)