HAMPDEN – Matt Joy hadn’t made a plate appearance since the Class B state championship game – in 2004, his senior year at Hermon High School.

But a year away from baseball has brought Joy back, and he made an immediate impact Tuesday with a pinch-hit, game-winning single in the bottom of the seventh inning as Hampden rallied past Trenton 7-6 in an American Legion Zone 1 season opener at Bordick Park.

Joy’s bases-loaded single through a drawn-in infield off Trenton reliever Will Rosenthal scored Brian McGinley from third base and capped off the Riverdogs’ comeback from a 6-3 deficit.

“In that situation I was just looking for a base hit,” said Joy. “It was a fastball low and a little out, and it had been called a strike on me twice already. It was pretty much the same pitch, and I went with it.”

Hampden struggled for the first 61/2 innings, issuing 10 walks and committing six errors as Trenton built its lead behind the pitching of righthander Cory Smith and a flawless defense led by Blake Wessel, who had eight assists and a putout at shortstop.

But Hampden’s Danny Maclean beat out an infield hit to shortstop to open the bottom of the seventh and went to third on a double by Nate Ellis – one of the Riverdogs’ six extra-base hits. Billy Shannon followed one out later with a two-run double to right center to cut the deficit to 6-5. After a balk by Rosenthal and a walk to McGinley, Ian Lee blooped a single to center to drive home Shannon with the tying run.

Chris Pease then was intentionally walked to load the bases before Rosenthal induced Joel Neill to pop out for the second out of the inning.

That brought up Joy to pinch-hit for Bill Bart.

“I’ve probably seen him hit four times,” said Hampden coach Jason Folsom. “Every time I’ve seen him in batting practice, he’s hit well, so I thought in a situation like this I’d give him a shot.”

Joy, a lefthanded batter, worked the count to 2-2 before punching a single into left field to drive home McGinley with the winning run.

“It was an unconventional win on our part,” said Folsom. “A lot of our guys haven’t played in a while, so some errors were probably going to happen, and some walks were probably going to happen. But what I’m proud of is that we stuck with it and kept playing. A year ago it might have been a different story.”

Pease had a sixth-inning solo home run and a double to pace Hampden’s 11-hit attack. Lee and Neill each added a double and a single, while Maclean had two singles.

Trenton managed just six hits, including two singles by Collin Henry.

Lee hit a two-out double and scored on a double by Neill to give Hampden a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.

Trenton took a 2-1 lead in the third on a two-run double by Rosenthal, but had two runners thrown out on the basepaths to prevent a further uprising.

Hampden tied the game in the fourth as Pease doubled and scored on Neill’s ground single to left, but Trenton struck for three runs in the fifth on a pair of errors and a two-run double by Kyle Shea.

The Acadians’ lead grew to 6-2 in the sixth thanks to three walks, a double-play grounder and an infield error that allowed Henry to score from third.

Pease hit a one-out homer to left in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 6-3 game.

RIVERDOGS 7, ACADIANS 6

Trenton (0-1) Hampden (1-0)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Pooler, rf 2 0 0 0 Shannon, ss-p 4 1 2

Wessel, ss 3 1 0 0 McGinley, c-2b 3 1 0

Henry, 1b 3 1 2 0 Lee, 1b-c 4 1 1

Cousins, 3b 1 2 0 0 Pease, p-1b 2 2 1

Rosenthal, 2b-p 2 0 1 2 Neill, lf 4 2

Hines, c 4 1 1 0 Bart, 3b 3 0 0

Merrill, lf 4 0 0 0 Joy, ph 1 0 1 1

Gale, pr 0 1 0 0 MacLean, rf 3 1 0

Shea, dh-2b 3 0 1 2 Ellis, cf 3 1 0

Smith, p 0 0 0 0 Morris, 2b-ss 3 0 0

Peake, cf 2 0 0 0

Pennartz, ph 1 0 1 0

Totals 25 6 6 4 Totals 30 7 11 7

Trenton 002 031 0 – 6

Hampden 100 101 4 – 7

Two outs when winning run scored

E-Shannon 2, Bart 2, Morris 2; LOB-Trenton 9, Hampden 6; 2B-Rosenthal, Shea; Lee, Neill, Pease, Ellis, Shannon; HR-Pease; DP-Wessel-Rosenthal-Henry; McGinley-Morris-Pease; Shannon-McGinley-Lee; SB-McGinley

Trenton IP H R ER BB SO

Smith 6 8 5 5 1 3

Rosenthal (L,0-1) 2/3 3 2 2 2 0

Hampden IP H R ER BB SO

Pease 4 1/3 5 5 4 6 3

Shannon (W,1-0) 2 2/3 1 1 0 4 0

HBP-Wessel by Pease; BK-Rosenthal; T-2:00; ATT-50