Eagles hold off Bapst rally Salsbury tallies first varsity win

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BANGOR – Tyler Salsbury was one inning away from his first varsity baseball win, and the pressure was mounting.

Clinging to a two-run lead Tuesday, Ellsworth’s sophomore righthander hit the first batter he faced in the bottom of the seventh, and the rival John Bapst bench was alive with chatter.

“Bapst was rocking the dugout, and I could feel the mound shake almost,” Salsbury said. “They were loud, but I just tried to keep cool.”

He was just cool enough to preserve the Eagles’ 3-1 Class B victory over the Crusaders at the Winkin Baseball Complex.

“I sing a little song in my head, ‘Yellow Submarine’ by the Beatles,” said Salsbury after completing his six-hitter. “This year I just tried something because I normally get worked up and throw balls, especially at a time like that. But I’ve been singing that song this year and it works great.”

Salsbury also got by with a little help from his defense, which made several stellar plays.

Freshman shortstop Brad Folmer’s perfect relay throw cut down Bapst’s Casey Hull trying to stretch a leadoff double into a triple in the fifth inning, and in the sixth he made a diving catch on a liner by Tyler King to strand another runner in scoring position.

“I just dove that way and stuck my glove out and it went in,” said Folmer of the catch. “I knew I was going to at least knock it down.”

And when Nick Hubbard was hit by a pitch to start the Bapst seventh and pinch-runner Chase Huckestein stole second, Ellsworth right fielder Dillon Wilbur dove to rob Hull of an RBI single.

Then, after Brock Bragdon reached on an infield hit, catcher Greg Berry threw him out on a stolen-base attempt to end the game.

“Any time that you get good pitching and put good defense behind the pitcher,” said John Bapst coach Shane Graham, “you’re going to put yourself in good shape to win the game.”

Salsbury mixed his fastball and curve effectively to keep the Bapst hitters off-balance, and struck out three, walked one and hit two batters while throwing 104 pitches.

“I was real proud of him in the seventh,” said Ellsworth coach Dana Smith, “because I thought he got a little rattled to start, then he gathered himself and finished.”

The win was the third straight for the 4-5 Eagles, all with considerable Heal Point value. After knocking off Mount Desert Island last Saturday, the Eagles upended reigning Eastern B champ Bucksport on Monday before edging Bapst.

“After losing 11 seniors from last year, I thought we were just going to have a rebuilding year, nothing much,” said Berry, a junior. “But now we’re finally getting together and things are happening. We’re getting good wins against good teams.”

John Bapst (6-4) scored an unearned run in the fourth for a 1-0 lead, but Ellsworth used a ground single to left by Travis Dressell, a bunt single by Folmer and an infield error to take a 2-1 lead in the fifth.

Dressell’s hit came at the end of an eight-pitch battle with John Bapst righty Alex Yates.

“He was throwing a bunch of junk, so I just fouled a bunch off until I got a fastball and got hold of it,” Dressell said.

The Eagles added a run in the sixth as Adam Kaspala walked, stole second and scored on a two-out single by Dressell.

EAGLES 3, CRUSADERS 1

Ellsworth (4-5) John Bapst (6-4)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

E. Folmer, 1b 4 0 0 0 Hull, cf 3 0

Kelley, cf 4 0 0 1 Bragdon, 1b 4 0 0

Hunnewell, 3b 4 0 2 0 Gallant, ss 2 0

Berry, c 2 0 0 0 Gagnon, rf 3 0 0

Wilbur, rf 3 0 1 0 N. Smith, c 3 1 0

A. Kaspala, lf 2 1 0 0 Yates, p 3 0

G. Kaspala, 2b 2 0 1 0 King, 2b 3 0

Dressell, dh 3 1 2 1 Hubbard, 3b 1 0 0

Clement, pr 0 0 0 0 Huckestein, pr 0 0 0

B. Folmer, ss 3 1 1 0 C. Smith, lf 3 0

Totals 27 3 7 2 Totals 25 1 6 0

Ellsworth 000 021 0 – 3

John Bapst 000 100 0 – 1

E-Hunnewell; Gallant; LOB-Ellsworth 6, John Bapst 7; 2B-Hull; S-Hull; SB-A. Kaspala; N. Smith, Huckestein

Ellsworth IP H R ER BB SO

Salsbury (W, 1-2) 7 6 1 0 1 3

John Bapst IP H R ER BB SO

Yates (L, 2-2) 7 7 3 1 2 3

HBP-G. Kaspala (by Yates); Gallant (by Salsbury), Hubbard (by Salsbury); WP-Salsbury 2; T-1:50; ATT-50 (est.)