Mariners record sweep of Cougars DI-S earns pivotal points in ‘D’ race

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BREWER – The Deer Isle-Stonington baseball team always gets psyched up for its annual battles with Down East rivals George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill and Searsport.

But perhaps the Mariners’ most important regular-season victories of the 2007 season came against a northern foe Saturday in a 14-7, 5-4 doubleheader sweep of Katahdin of Stacyville at Heddericg Field.

The victories over the Cougars – ranked No. 1 in Eastern Maine Class D and riding a six-game winning streak – improve Deer Isle-Stonington to 8-2 as it battles Katahdin and unbeaten Shead of Eastport for the top spot in the region.

“This was big,” said Mariners’ coach Darren Eaton, whose team lost to Katahdin in last year’s regional quarterfinals. “We saw the Heal points, and we know our schedule is not heavily laden other than Searsport and [George] Stevens with points, and to see these guys come in No. 1 in the rankings and with the high point index, we had to play well.

“Unfortunately we didn’t, but we came up with two wins, and I’ll take that.”

Katahdin (8-3) showed it could compete with the Mariners despite the losses, the second one coming as DI-S rightfielder Ethan Pinkham threw the Cougars’ Ethan Qualey out at the plate to end the game after an errant infield throw went into the outfield.

Coach Marty McCarthy’s club held an early 4-2 lead in the second game before having its offense contained by senior righthander Ray Garcia.

Garcia relieved starter Jon Eaton with no outs and two runs already across in the second inning and allowed no runs on three hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

“Raymond’s been very consistent for us the last couple of years,” said coach Eaton. “He’s our horse. We count on him. He can throw three pitches, throw them for strikes, and his offensive game’s really stepped up, too. We’ve needed him, and he’s been an intrical part of what we do.”

Garcia used a variety of pitches and arm angles to keep Katahdin in check, allowing just two batters to advance as far as second base.

“I was trying to hit the outside corner,” Garcia said. “My sidearm fastball cuts to the outside against lefties, so I just tried to hit that corner.”

Jared Anderson pitched effectively for Katahdin. He scattered 11 singles, but neither struck out nor walked anyone as he kept the ball around the plate.

An RBI single by Collin Ciomei in the bottom of the second began the Mariners’ comeback. Bryant Ciomei singled and later scored on Jon Eaton’s sacrifice fly to tie the game in the third.

Pinkham scored the game-winner one inning later. He beat out a chopper down the third-base line for an infield hit, stole second and scored when Eben Powers singled to center.

Pinkham, Collin Ciomei, Shane Eaton and Ben Hardie each singled twice for Deer Isle-Stonington.

Casey Savage doubled and singled for Katahdin, including an RBI double during a three-run second-inning rally. Andy Kay added two singles, while Josh Guiggey and James Zabierek each had an RBI single.

In the first game, Deer Isle-Stonington capitalized on eight hits, 12 walks, 14 stolen bases and six Katahdin errors to pull away.

The Mariners got big production from the 7-8-9 spots in their lineup. Hardie doubled and singled twice, Pinkham scored three runs and had two RBIs, and Powers had a double, single and two RBIs.

“I was kind of disappointed with my top guys because they’re very talented, but my five through nine guys played hungry, and I was very impressed with how they handled themselves,” said coach Eaton. “They hit the baseball, they ran very well, they did the small things it takes to win. That was key for us today.”

Collin Ciomei earned the win in relief of Hardie, the starter, before giving way to Jon Eaton in the sixth inning due to a recurring blister on his pitching hand.

Kay, a sophomore, hit three singles and drove home four runs for Katahdin, while Guiggey scored three runs from the leadoff spot in the order.

MARINERS 14, COUGARS 7

(Saturday’s First Game)

Deer Isle-Stonington Katahdin

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

C. Ciomei, ss-p 4 2 0 1 Guiggey, 1b-c 4 0

Brown, cf 4 0 0 0 Savage, cf 2 2 0

B. Ciomei, 2b 2 3 0 1 Kay, p-1b 3 4

J. Eaton, c-p 4 0 1 3 McCarthy, c-p-1b 1

Garcia, lf 3 1 0 1 T. Anderson, pr 0 0 0

O’Dell, 1b 4 0 1 1 Qualey, 2b 2 1 0

Rollins, pr 0 1 0 0 Duffy, lf 4 0 0

Hardie, p-ss-c 5 2 3 0 J. Anderson, rf 4 0

Pinkham, rf 3 3 1 2 McGraw, ss 3 0 1

Powers, 3b 4 2 2 2 Gallagher, 3b 1 0 0

Zabierek, ph 1 0 0 0

Gould, pr 0 0 0 0

Totals 33 14 8 11 Totals 28 7 6 6

Deer Isle-Stonington 200 533 1 – 14

Katahdin 410 002 0 – 7

E-B. Ciomei, Powers 2; McGraw 4, McCarthy, Gallagher; LOB-DI-Stonington 11, Katahdin 7; 2B-Hardie, Powers; McGraw; DP-Deer Isle-Stonington 1, Katahdin 1; SB-B. Ciomei 4, C. Ciomei 3, Pinkham 3, J. Eaton 2, Powers 2; Qualey

DI-Stonington IP H R ER BB SO

Hardie 3 5 5 1 3 3

C. Ciomei (W, 2-2) 2 1/3 0 2 2 3 2

J. Eaton 1 2/3 1 0 0 0 2

Katahdin IP H R ER BB SO

Kay, (L, 3-1) 4 2/3 4 8 1 7 6

McCarthy 2 1/3 4 6 5 5 4

HBP-B. Ciomei (by McCarthy), Kay (by C. Ciomei); WP-Hardie 2, J. Eaton; McCarthy 2, Kay; T-2:30

MARINERS 5, COUGARS 4

(Second Game)

Katahdin (8-3) DI-Stonington (8-2)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Guiggey, c 3 1 1 1 C. Ciomei, ss 3 1 1

Savage, cf 4 1 2 1 Brown, cf 3 0 0

Kay, ss 4 0 2 0 B. Ciomei, 2b 3 1 0

McCarthy, 1b 4 0 0 0 J. Eaton, p-lf 2 1 1

Qualey, 2b 4 0 1 0 S. Eaton, 1b 3 0 1

Zabierek, rf 4 0 1 1 Garcia, lf-p 3 0 0

J. Anderson, p 4 0 1 0 Hardie, c 3 0

Gallagher, 3b 1 1 1 0 Pinkham, rf 3 0

T. Anderson, lf 1 1 0 0 Powers, 3b 3 1

Duffy, lf 1 0 0 0

Totals 30 4 9 3 Totals 26 5 11 4

Katahdin 130 000 0 – 4

Deer Isle-Stonington 211 100 x – 5

E-T. Anderson 2, Kay; C. Ciomei 2, Powers 2, S. Eaton, Pinkham; LOB-Katahdin 9, Deer Isle-Stonington 4; 2B-Savage; DP-Katahdin 1, Deer Isle-Stonington 1; SF-J. Eaton; SB-Kay; Pinkham 2, C. Ciomei, B. Ciomei

Katahdin IP H R ER BB SO

J. Anderson (L, 2-1) 7 11 5 4 0 0

DI-Stonington IP H R ER BB SO

J. Eaton 1 6 4 2 2 0

Garcia (W, 3-0) 6 3 0 0 2 5

T-1:30; ATT-100 (est.)