Vikings defeat Bangor in semi Oxford Hills in Wednesday final

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SOUTH PARIS – Matt McDonnell’s day was one of both finesse and power.

Finesse came in a pitching performance that wasn’t overwhelming, but effective. Power came in a two-run homer that provided the necessary breathing room as host Oxford Hills defeated Bangor 10-4 Saturday in an Eastern Maine Class A baseball semifinal at the Donald Gouin Complex.

The No. 2 Vikings (15-3) play No. 5 Edward Little of Auburn for the EM title at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Bangor’s Mansfield Stadium. EL (14-5) upset top-ranked Gardiner 3-1 Saturday.

Bangor, the No. 6 seed, bows out at 13-6.

McDonnell braved the 90-degree heat to scatter nine hits while striking out two, walking one and hitting a batter in a 103-pitch complete-game performance. The senior righthander mixed his pitches well, keeping the Bangor batters off balance with his curve.

McDonnell also was aided by a pair of double plays featuring the work of third baseman Kelvin DeCato and second baseman Ethan Sutton.

“It did take a little while to get going,” said McDonnell, who plans to play baseball and basketball at the Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston next year. “I wasn’t bending as much as I usually do and left a lot of my pitches high, but I worked myself into it and I had a great defense behind me today.”

The Vikings’ moment of truth came after Bangor took a 3-2 lead with two runs in the third inning and a run in the top of the fourth. Jordan Heath’s RBI single highlighted the third-inning uprising, while Gordon Webb doubled in the fourth and pinch runner Ryan Toomey scored the go-ahead run on the second of Scott Hackett’s three singles on the day.

Bangor senior righthander Brian Hackett, who entered the game coming off three straight complete-game shutouts, had settled down after yielding two runs in the first inning, and the Rams were poised to make their first lead stand.

But Oxford Hills scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth to regain the lead, and two more runs in the fifth on McDonnell’s home run to take control.

“I really thought when we went up 3-2 that they wouldn’t score again,” said Bangor coach Jeff Fahey. “Brian had given up no runs in the last 25 innings. I think he had to throw so many pitches that he got tired, and his pitches got up and they hit him a little bit.”

The Vikings also pressured Bangor’s defense with the bunt – a tactic that proved fruitful. Five OH players successfully put down bunts, with four reaching base and three scoring runs. Bangor committed five errors, four on bunt plays.

“Hackett’s a good pitcher, and I couldn’t see us scoring five, six or seven runs against him without bunting,” said Oxford Hills coach Shane Slicer. “Once we started doing it, they started pressing, so it worked for us.”

In the fourth, McDonnell was hit by a pitch and scored on a triple by freshman Chris Roy. Roy scored on a bunt by Ben Ryerson, who reached second base on the first of two Bangor errors in the inning. Corey Saunders later reached on an error while bunting and scored on Sutton’s two-out double to right-center.

DeCato, who had three of the Vikings’ 11 hits, grounded a one-out single to the shortstop hole in the fifth and scored on McDonnell’s blast to left.

“It was just an inside fastball,” said McDonnell. “Brian brings it pretty good, and I just knew if I made good contact on it that it would go.”

Oxford Hills added three unearned runs off Bangor reliever Alex Gallant in the sixth before Bangor scored its final run in the seventh on a single by Aaron Gallant and a two-out double by Heath. Heath and Gallant each finished with two hits for the Rams.

“I really thought when we got up 3-2, that was it, they were done,” Fahey said, “but credit to them, they made us have to make plays we couldn’t make.”

VIKINGS 10, RAMS 4

Bangor (13-6) Oxford Hills (15-3)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Estabrook, 2b 2 0 0 0 Jennings, lf 2 0

Al. Gallant, p 0 0 0 0 Keniston, ss 4 0

Cox, p 0 0 0 0 DeCato, 3b 4 2 1

Murphy, ph 1 0 0 0 McDonnell, p 3 2 2

Heath, ss 4 0 2 2 Frechette, pr 0 0 0

B. Hackett, p-3b 3 0 1 0 Roy, rf 4 1 2

Anderson, 1b 3 0 0 0 Ryerson, 1b 2 0 1

Webb, c 3 0 1 0 Varney, dh 2 1 0

Toomey, pr 0 1 0 0 Estes, c 0 0 0

S. Hackett, 3b-2b 3 0 3 1 Saunders, cf 3 0

Ingraham, pr 0 0 0 0 Sutton, 2b 2 1 1

Kearns, dh 3 0 0 0

Crews, rf 0 0 0 0

Aa. Gallant, lf 3 2 2 0

Eremita, cf 2 1 0 0

Totals 27 4 9 3 Totals 26 10 11 7

Bangor 002 100 1 – 4

Oxford Hills 200 323 x – 10

E-Al. Gallant 2, B. Hackett, S. Hackett, Heath; Keniston; LOB-Bangor 5, Oxford Hills 4; 2B-Heath, Webb; Sutton; 3B-Sutton; HR-McDonnell; DP-Crews-Heath-S. Hackett; DeCato-Sutton-Ryerson 2; S-Estabrook; Ryerson, Sutton, Jennings; SB-Heath; Jennings, Saunders

Bangor IP H R ER BB SO

B. Hackett (L,5-3) 4 1/3 7 7 6 1 7

Al. Gallant 1 1/3 3 3 0 1 2

Cox 1/3 1 0 0 0 1

Oxford Hills IP H R ER BB SO

McDonnell (W,5-2) 7 9 4 3 1 2

HBP-Eremita by McDonnell; McDonnell by B. Hackett; BK-B. Hackett; PB-Webb; Estes; T-2:00; ATT-200