Brewer rallies past Motor City in opener

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BANGOR – The Brewer Falcons got their summer off to a successful start Tuesday with a 6-5 victory over Motor City of Bangor in an American Legion Zone 1 baseball opener at the Winkin Baseball Complex.

But all wasn’t lost for Motor City as the brand new team with players from five different schools – John Bapst, Bangor Christian, Old Town, Orono and Hermon – proved quite competitive in its inaugural game, taking an early 4-1 lead and ending the game with the winning run in scoring position.

“All through tryouts and practices the last couple of days, we wanted to show we were a true team,” said Motor City shortstop Kyle Gallant. “Probably a lot of teams in the zone are thinking Motor City, first-year team, but we wanted to come out and show we were a true team and not just a joke. Today, even though we lost, it was a solid 6-5 loss, and we showed we were a true team.”

Eric White, who just completed his freshman year at Brewer High, worked five innings to earn the pitching win. The righthander allowed four runs on three hits while walking four and striking out seven.

“We’ve got six games this week, and we needed him to pitch some innings,” said Brewer coach David Morris, whose team will host Motor City on Wednesday evening. “After he got going he kept them more at bay, he kept battling.”

John Bapst starter Aaron Healey limited Brewer to a first-inning solo home run by Chris Maguire until the 2006 Zone 1 champions took the lead with four runs in the fifth. The Falcons sent nine batters to the plate, Eddie Robbins hitting a two-run single to go with an RBI single by Prentiss Swett and a run-scoring fielder’s choice by Brad Brown.

Brewer catcher Cam Wadleigh lined a leadoff single to left in the sixth, and pinch-runner Billy Bissell came around to score on two walks and a wild pitch to give the Falcons a 6-4 lead.

After Steve Klenowski worked a scoreless sixth on the mound for the Falcons, Swett endured control problems in the seventh, as Motor City loaded the bases with one out on walks to Jared Theriault and Casey Hull and an intentional walk to Gallant.

After Swett struck out Jon Gagnon, Nick Smith walked to force in a run before Maguire came on to get Chris Smith to pop out to end the game.

“It was a little humble pie for us,” said Morris. “I think we came out thinking we were going to take care of business and crush them, but [Healey] threw a heck of a game. On the flip side, I think after we gained our scruples a little bit and realized we weren’t going to go out and pound them, we did a good job, made some plays in the field and got some big hits when we needed them.”

After Maguire gave Brewer a 1-0 lead with a line shot over the left-field fence with two outs in the first, Motor City struck for three runs in the bottom of the inning.

One-out walks to Tommy Jackson and Gallant and an opposite-field single to left by Gagnon loaded the bases. Jackson scored on wild pitch, then Nick Smith drove home two runs with a single to left-center before being cut down trying to stretch it into a double on a strong throw by center fielder Robbins.

Motor City extended its lead to 4-1 in the third, as Gallant drew a leadoff walk and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Chris Smith.

“We’ve only had a few practices under our belt together, and we’re still learning the team game,” said Motor City coach Shane Graham. We’ve got kids from Bangor Christian, Bapst, Old Town, Orono and Hermon, so you’re talking about five different schools, but we’ll get there.”

“We’ve got a lot of young kids, but we’ve got some talent, and as we’ve said from day one, we want to be as competitive as possible but yet we also want to maintain the program and build for the future.”

FALCONS 6, MOTOR CITY 5

(xxx Afternoon, xx innings)

Brewer (1-0) Motor City (0-1)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Adams, 2b 2 1 0 0 Hull, cf-ss 2 0 0

Robbins, cf 4 1 1 2 Jackson, 3b 3 1 0

Daniels, cf 0 0 0 0 Gallant, ss-p 1 2 0

Maguire, 3b-p 3 1 1 1 J. Gagnon, rf-p-cf 0

McLaughlin, 3b 0 0 0 0 N. Smith, c-p 3 3

Brown, 1b 3 0 0 1 C. Smith, lf 3 0 1

Swett, rf-p-3b 4 0 1 1 Healey, p-1b 3 0

Higgins, dh 3 0 1 0 Bragdon, 1b-rf 2 0 0

White, p 1 0 0 0 Spencer, c-rf 1 0 0

Klenowski, p 0 0 0 0 Casey, 2b 2 0 0

Nicknair, rf 0 0 0 0 Theriault, ph 0 0 0

Wadleigh, c 3 0 1 0 M. Gagnon, pr 0 1 0

Bissell, pr 0 1 0 0

Kotredes, c 0 0 0 0

Dedmon, lf 2 1 1 0

Thoms, lf 0 0 0 0

Jackson, ss 2 1 1 0

Smith, ss 0 0 0 0

Totals 27 6 7 5 Totals 23 5 3 4

Brewer 100 041 0 – 6

Motor City 301 000 1 – 5

E-Jackson, Dedmon; N. Smith; LOB-Brewer 7, Motor City 7; HR-Maguire (1); SF-C. Smith; SB-Higgins

Brewer IP H R ER BB SO

White (W, 1-0) 5 3 4 4 4 7

Klenowski 1 0 0 0 0 1

Swett 2/3 0 1 1 4 1

Maguire (S, 1) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0

Motor City IP H R ER BB SO

Healey (L, 0-1) 4 2/3 6 5 5 3 2

J. Gagnon 2/3 1 1 1 2 1

N. Smith 2/3 0 0 0 1 1

Gallant 1 0 0 0 0 1

HBP-J. Gagnon (by White); WP-White; Healey, J. Gagnon; T-2:25; ATT-75 (est.)