Bangor resilient in surge to title Chemistry is key to Rams’ success

STANDISH – This was supposed to be Portland’s year.

Having played second fiddle to intracity rival Deering of Portland in recent baseball seasons, this year’s Bulldogs returned virtually intact the lineup that won the 2005 American Legion state championship for Andrews Post of Portland.

Along the way to that crown, Andrews Post edged Bangor 12-9, but it was a vastly different Bangor lineup from the high school squad that played Portland for the Class A state title Saturday.

Only catcher Gordon Webb and first baseman Scott Hackett among the current Rams started in that Legion game, with Kyle Leeman making a token appearance as a pinch runner.

So it was a new-look Bangor team that took the field this spring, a blend of veterans like Hackett and Webb and newcomers to the varsity experience like shortstop Ian Edwards, right fielder Kyle Vanidestine and third baseman Shane Walton, all sophomores.

But the mix came together quickly, with Bangor coming from behind several times early in the season to move out to a 7-0 start.

“Our chemistry has been so good,” said Webb. “Everyone on the team loves each other; we’re just like family. We knew all year that we were going all the way.”

But there was a midseason stumbling block, back-to-back losses that may have provided the teaching tool necessary for head coach Jeff Fahey and assistants John Tennett and Fred Lower to motivate the Rams to the championship level.

Skowhegan stunned Bangor with four runs in the top of the seventh inning for a 6-5 victory, and crossriver rival Brewer frustrated the Rams 2-1 behind senior righthander Corey Cushing.

“I thought the week after our second loss, the loss to Brewer, that the seniors cranked it up a little bit, we cranked it up a little bit as a coaching staff, and I think you could see the difference,” said Fahey.

The second half of the season featured flawless defense, a wealth of offensive production and high-quality pitching. There were few dramatic victories, just victories.

Eleven straight victories later, Bangor is a state champion for the first time since 1997.

“I think right from the start we thought we could win, because looking at our lineup up and down the comparisons were good and we felt we were as good as anyone,” said junior left fielder Alex Gallant, whose two-run homer in the sixth inning and RBI single in the seventh rallied Bangor past Portland 4-3 in the state final.

That the title-game victory came against the Bulldogs perhaps made the accomplishment even more satisfying. Portland was the preseason favorite, after all, and this rivalry has a storied tradition. Each program entered the game with eight state championships, and the teams had met seven previous times in the ultimate game – with Portland holding a 4-3 edge.

Now that head-to-head matchup is even.

“Once we realized we were a real good team we just stuck with it,” said Leeman. “All of the papers had been saying Portland, Portland, Portland, but we knew the whole time that we were evenly matched up and we could take this game.”

But like their most recent meeting before Saturday, a 1-0, eight-inning Bangor victory in 1995, Saturday’s win did not come easily.

They trailed for much of the game, until Bangor’s batters figured out the changing speeds of Portland lefty Ian Boyle.

“The middle of our order is pretty good,” said Fahey. “I’ll put it up against anybody in the state. Their pitchers did a good job of keeping us off-balance, but we finally caught up to a couple.”

Gallant emerged as the offensive hero, while pitchers Jim Cox and Kyle Leeman combined to keep Portland’s offense in check after the first inning and give the Rams the chance to come back.

And the defense again was impeccable.

“We haven’t made many errors in the last 10 or 12 games, we haven’t thrown it around,” Fahey said. “That’s really what Portland was doing, they were playing our type of game where they weren’t going to make mistakes, either.

“Again, like it has been all year, it was teamwork. Everyone contributed something.”