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OLD TOWN – The preseason buzz about the American Legion Zone 1 baseball race didn’t feature a lot of talk about the Orono Twins.
But with a week left in the regular season, coach Ron Estes’ club has forced its way into the postseason conversation, improving its record to 11-6 Tuesday by rallying past Trenton 6-5 at Old Town High School.
Even the Twins are somewhat surprised at their success, though it’s more a case of this collection of standouts from Orono, Old Town and John Bapst high schools simply arriving ahead of schedule – 16 players on the roster also will be eligible to play next summer.
“I don’t think anyone realized we were going to be this good,” said Jarrett Lukas, who will be a junior at Old Town High this fall. “But we have some good players, and we’re going to have a good team next year, too, so this is a good step for us.”
Orono made three first-inning errors in spotting Trenton a 2-0 lead, then played mistake-free the rest of the way behind righthander Travis Bryant. Bryant scattered 12 hits – all singles – while pitching his first complete game of the summer. But he walked no one and struck out three and allowing three earned runs.
“I was just trying to throw strikes, and keep it low so they’d put it on the ground and let my defense play the ball,” said Bryant.
Blake Wessel led the 8-8 Acadians with three hits, while Collin Henry, Adam Cousins and Phineas Peake had two hits each.
Orono managed eight hits off Trenton lefthander Dan Hilts, five for extra bases. Mike Tardiff was the Twins’ lone repeat hitter with a double and a single, while Cody Andrews homered and Lukas, Brian Roach and Dusty Thomas each doubled.
The Twins rallied from a 4-1 deficit with three runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Thomas hit a one-out double and went to third on George Keefe’s bloop single to center before scoring on a wild pitch. Andrews then blasted a 2-1 pitch over the left-field fence for a game-tying two-run homer.
Orono took a 6-4 lead an inning later. Jacob Lukas hit a leadoff single and reached third when Roach doubled to left-center. One out later, Jarrett Lukas grounded the first pitch he saw down the left-field line for a two-run double.
“It was an inside changeup,” said Lukas. “The at-bat before that I got two inside fastballs, so I was looking for something middle in and hoping he didn’t throw a curve, and I got it and pulled it.”
Trenton put its leadoff runner on in the sixth when Peake blooped a single to right-center that barely eluded diving second baseman Jarrett Lukas. But Lukas turned the tables one out later, snaring a line drive by Wessel and then beating Peake back to the base to complete an inning-ending unassisted double play.
Henry and Cousins each singled to open the Trenton seventh. A fly ball to right by Harrison Hines advanced Henry to third, and Henry scored when Sam Merrill hit a sacrifice fly to deep center. But the threat – and the game – ended when Bryant retired Will Rosenthal on a groundout.
“It was kind of like a playoff atmosphere out here, a tough game that’s fun to play in,” said Bryant. “We’re a young team with a lot of kids who want it. We’re going to be tough to beat.”
TWINS 6, ACADIANS 5
Trenton (8-8) Orono (11-6)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
Smith, rf 4 1 1 0 Roach, rf 3 1 0
Wessel, ss 4 1 3 1 Estes, cf 3 0 0
Henry, 1b 4 1 2 0 Jar. Lukas, 2b 3 0 2
Cousins, 3b 4 1 2 1 Thomas, c 2 1 0
Pooler, pr 0 0 0 0 Keefe, ss 3 1 0
Hines, c 4 0 2 0 Andrews, 1b 2 2 2
Merrill, lf 3 0 0 1 Tardiff, lf 3 0 1
Rosenthal, 2b 4 0 0 0 Chilelli, pr 0 0
Ciomei, dh 3 0 0 0 Dunton, dh 3 0 0
Peake, cf 2 1 2 0 Jac. Lukas, 3b 3 1 0
Totals 32 5 12 3 Totals 25 6 8 5
Trenton 210 100 1-5
Orono 010 320 x-6
E-Keefe, Estes, Jac. Lukas; LOB-Trenton 8, Orono 3; 2B-Tardiff, Thomas, Roach, Jar. Lukas; HR-Andrews; DP-Jar. Lukas unassisted; SF-Merrill; SB-Peake 2
Trenton IP H R ER BB SO
Hilts (L, 1-2) 6 8 6 6 2 7
Orono IP H R ER BB SO
Bryant (W, 2-1) 7 12 5 3 0 3
HBP-Peake by Bryant; WP-Hilts, Bryant; T-1:30; ATT-50
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