BANGOR – It involved a roundabout journey, but the John Bapst of Bangor baseball team improved its record to 3-1 Saturday with a 12-2 and 7-6 doubleheader sweep of Caribou at Mansfield Stadium.

The Crusaders ended the opener in 41/2 innings, and appeared on their way to a similar cruise in the second game after taking an early 5-0 lead.

But the Vikings battled back with six runs in the sixth and seventh innings before Bapst tied the game in the bottom of the seventh and won in the ninth on an RBI single by junior Alex Yates.

“I definitely think we were too confident coming into the later part of the second game,” said Yates. “We came out in the first game hard and for the second game hard, but I know I slacked off in the second half. We just had to recollect.”

Nick Smith, who started the second game for John Bapst, earned the win with 2 1/3 innings of shutout relief. Overall, the righthander allowed three hits and no runs while walking two and striking out one in 5 1/3 innings for coach Shane Graham’s club.

Smith originally left the mound after three innings armed with a five-run cushion. Casey Hull scored from second on a bunt single by Nick Hubbard, Chris Smith added a sacrifice fly and Jon Gagnon had an RBI single as Bapst took a 3-0 first-inning lead.

Yates’ two-run double in the second made it 5-0, but Caribou starter Josh Doucette and reliever Devin Hersey then combined to quiet the Crusaders’ bats, and the Vikings mounted a late rush.

A double by Hersey and two Bapst errors helped 0-3 Caribou draw within 5-2 in the sixth, and three more errors, a wild pitch on a third strike, a balk, a hit batsman and a bases-loaded walk to Jon Noyes helped give the Vikings a 6-5 lead in the top of the seventh.

“That’s baseball, you never give up and play until the last out and that’s what happened here,” said Caribou coach Jim Thibodeau.

Bapst tied the game in the bottom of the inning as Hull had an infield hit, stole second and hustled home on a sacrifice by Hubbard. In the ninth, Hubbard reached on a fielder’s choice and took second on a wild pitch before Yates hit a first-pitch fastball into center field for the game-winning hit.

“I just saw it come a little bit outside,” said Yates of the pitch. “I knew it was going to be a strike, and it was probably the best I was going to see, so I went for it.”

Yates finished with a double and a single, while Gagnon singled twice for Bapst. Eric Brown had three singles for Caribou, while Hersey doubled and singled.

In the first game, Nick Smith hit a two-run single in the first inning and a two-run double in the second as the Crusaders broke the game open.

Smith’s single was the only hit of a four-run rally after two were out in the first, a rally that included seven stolen bases, three walks, three Caribou errors and a balk.

John Bapst took a more conventional route in the second inning, with doubles by Smith and Hubbard, an infield hit by Yates and an RBI single to center by Josh Jameson helping the Crusaders extend their lead to 7-0.

Caribou scored in the third as Kyle Corrigan singled and came home on a single by Patrick Thibodeau, but John Bapst responded with five more runs on five hits in the bottom of the inning. Yates, Hull and Chris Smith each had an RBI single, while Jameson added a sacrifice fly.

CRUSADERS 12, VIKINGS 2

(First Game, 5 innings)

Caribou John Bapst

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Thibodeau, p-lf 3 0 1 1 Hull, ss 4 1

Jepson, cf 2 0 1 0 Hubbard, 3b 4 2 0

Hersey, 3b 1 0 0 0 Yates, p-rf 4 3 1

Doucette, 3b 2 0 0 0 C. Smith, lf 2 1 1

Noyes, ss 3 0 0 0 N. Smith, c 2 2 4

Dickenson, c 2 1 0 0 Gagnon, rf 2 1 0

Damboise, 2b 2 0 1 0 Healy, p 0 0 0

D. Haines, 1b 1 0 0 0 Jameson, 2b 2 2

Corrigan, lf-p 2 1 1 1 Clark, cf 3 0

Adams, dh 2 0 0 0 Levesque, 1b 0 1 0

Craig, rf 0 0 0 0

Totals 20 2 4 2 Totals 23 12 10 9

Caribou 001 10 – 2

John Bapst 435 0x -12

E-Hersey 3, Corrigan; Hubbard, Hull; LOB-Caribou 5, John Bapst 6; 2B-Hubbard, N. Smith; DP-Clark- Levesque; SF-Jameson; SB-Jepson; C. Smith 3, Clark 2, N. Smith 2, Yates, Gagnon, Jameson

Caribou IP H R ER BB SO

Thibodeau (L,0-1) 2 5 7 3 3 2

Corrigan 2 5 5 4 3 0

John Bapst IP H R ER BB SO

Yates (W,1-0) 3 3 1 1 0 3

Healy 2 1 1 0 2 2

BK-Thibodeau; Healy; T-1:24

CRUSADERS 7, VIKINGS 6

(Second Game, 9 innings)

Caribou (0-3) John Bapst (3-1)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Thibodeau, lf 2 0 0 0 Hull, ss 4 0

Ala, rf 2 1 0 0 Hubbard, 3b 4 2 2

Corrigan, cf 4 1 1 0 Levesque, lf 0 0 0

Hersey, 3b-p 4 2 2 1 Yates, c-3b-lf 5 1 3

Noyes, ss 4 1 0 1 N. Smith, p-c-cf 3 0

J. Haines, c 5 0 0 0 C. Smith, lf-c-p 2 1

Brown, rf-lf 5 0 3 0 Merritt, rf 1 0 0

D. Haines, 1b 5 0 1 0 Gagnon, rf-p 3 0

Rossignol, 2b 4 0 0 0 Ortiz, 2b 1 0

Doucette, p 2 0 0 0 Jameson, 2b 2 0 0

Damboise, 3b 2 1 0 0 King, 2b-p-rf 2 0 0

Bragdon, 1b 4 1 1 0

Clark, cf 3 1 1 0

Totals 39 6 7 2 Totals 34 7 10 6

Caribou 000 002 400 – 6

John Bapst 320 000 101 – 7

Two out when winning run scored.

E-Noyes, J. Haines, Damboise; Yates 3, Hull, C, Smith; LOB-Caribou 10, John Bapst 6; 2B-Hersey; Yates; S-N. Smith, Hull, Hubbard; SF-C. Smith; SB-Thibodeau; Hull, Gagnon, Clark

Caribou IP H R ER BB SO

Doucette 5 6 5 4 1 4

Hersey (L,0-1) 3 2/3 4 2 1 0 2

John Bapst IP H R ER BB SO

N. Smith (W, 2-0) 5 1/3 3 0 0 2 1

Gagnon 2 1 0 0 0 4

King 1 2 2 0 0 1

C. Smith 2/3 1 4 0 1 1

HBP-Hersey (by C. Smith); WP-Hersey 3; C. Smith; BK-Doucette; C. Smith; T-2:19; ATT-70 (est.)