Bangor’s balance too much for Cony Nine-run sixth inning carries Rams to victory, Brewer up next in semi

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BANGOR – Bangor High School senior second baseman Ryan Jones isn’t your typical No. 9 hitter.

Jones came into Friday night’s Eastern Maine Class A quarterfinal against Cony of Augusta hitting .300 and he belted a run-scoring triple to key a nine-run sixth inning that carried top seed Bangor to an 11-2 triumph at the Winkin Baseball Complex.

Bangor, now 15-2, will host archrival Brewer, 14-4, in Saturday’s 3 p.m. semifinal at either Mansfield Stadium or the Winkin Baseball Complex. If the game is rained out, then it will be played at 4:15 p.m. Monday.

No. 9 Cony finished at 8-10.

Cony had tied the game 2-2 in the top of the sixth on a Joe Lajoie triple and Steve Roderigue’s RBI single but Bangor’s Ian Edwards opened the bottom of the sixth with a line-drive single to left and Shane Walton walked.

Tyson Barron sacrificed them along and losing pitcher Roderigue bounced a wild pitch through the legs of catcher Zach Logan to deliver Edwards with the go-ahead run.

Jones then ripped his triple to deep left center to score Walton.

“He threw me a fastball right down the middle and I knew I couldn’t miss that. I had to do something with it,” said Jones.

“We needed some insurance. Someone had to step up. I know I’m the nine hitter but we can all hit,” added Jones.

Kyle Vanidestine walked and Mustafa Hassanzada replaced Roderigue.

Hassanzada walked the first two hitters to force in another run before Scott Hackett ripped a two-run single to center.

“He had thrown eight balls in a row so I was just sitting on a fastball, hoping he’d give me something to hit, and he threw me one right down the middle,” said Hackett.

Alex Gallant singled in a run, a passed ball allowed another to score and Walton tripled in the final two runs.

“We were just trying to get people on early in the inning so we could manufacture a run,” said sophomore Edwards. “That’s when we finally started hitting the ball and got more than we planned on. It was nice.”

Hackett said, “We’ve come through in the clutch all year long and this was another example of it.”

Kyle Leeman picked up the win in relief of Jimmy Cox. He came on in the sixth after Cony tied it and retired the three hitters he faced. He is now 5-0. Barron pitched a scoreless seventh.

Logan staked Cony to a 1-0 lead in the second with an RBI double but Bangor answered with two unearned runs in the bottom of the second on a hit batsman, singles by Edwards and Walton and a throwing error that allowed both runs to score.

“We were tied 2-2 in the sixth inning with the No. 1 team in the east. That’s not bad for a team that was 0-6 in the middle of May,” said Cony coach Dennis Dacus. “Bangor’s a very talented team from top to bottom.”

Edwards, Bangor’s leading hitter at .548 entering the game, had three singles to pace Bangor’s 10-hit attack. Walton tripled and singled and Hackett singled twice.

Cox pitched five innings of three-hit, two-run ball, striking out four, walking one and hitting three batters.

Roderigue pitched well before tiring in the sixth. He allowed six hits and six runs, five earned, with two strikeouts, three walks and two hit batsman.

BANGOR RAMS 11, CONY RAMS 2

Cony (8-10) Bangor (15-2)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Lajoie, cf 3 1 1 0 Vanidestine, rf 2 1 0

Roderigue, p-3b 3 0 1 1 Estabrook, dh 2 0

Cotnoir, 3b-ss 2 0 0 0 Webb, c 3 0 0

Poulin, 2b 3 0 0 0 Boehmer, pr 0 1 0

Daniels, lf 2 0 0 0 Hackett, 1b 4 1 2

Nason, dh 1 1 0 0 Gallant, lf 3 2 1

Hassanzada,ss-p 0 0 0 0 Edwards, ss 4 0

Arnold, ph 0 0 0 0 Walton, 3b 3 1 2

Berube, 1b 2 0 0 0 Barron, cf-p 3 0 0

Hubert, ph 1 0 0 0 Jones, 2b 4 0 2

Logan, c 2 0 1 1 Crews, pr 0 1 0

Wilkinson, ph 0 0 0 0

Brunelle, rf 2 0 0 0

Perkins, ph 0 0 0 0

Totals 21 2 3 1 Totals 28 11 10 6

Cony 010 000 0 – 2

Bangor 020 009 x – 11

E- Poulin, Cotnoir; Leeman LOB- Cony 5, Bangor 8; 2B- Logan; 3B- Lajoie; Jones, Walton; DP- Edwards-Jones-Hackett; S- Barron; SB- Vanidestine 2, Hackett 2 Gallant

Cony IP H R ER BB SO

Roderigue (L, 2-2) 5 1/3 6 6 5 3 2

Hassanzada 1 2/3 4 5 5 2 0

Bangor IP H R ER BB SO

Cox 5 3 2 2 1 4

Leeman (W, 5-0) 1 0 0 0 0 1

Barron 1 0 0 0 2 1

HBP- Lajoie, Cotnoir, Daniels (by Cox), Arnold (by Barron); Gallant, Vanidestine (by Roderigue); WP- Roderigue 2; PB- Logan; T- 1:55; ATT- 150 (est.)