BANGOR – Good pitching can make playing defense easier, and good defense can make good pitching even more effective.

The Bangor Comrades got both good pitching and good defense Tuesday night in a 4-1 American Legion Zone 1 baseball victory over Brewer at Mansfield Stadium.

Righthander Jim Cox pitched a two-hitter for his third win of the young season. The 2006 Bangor High grad required just 83 pitches while striking out four batters and walking two.

“He’s been a pleasant surprise because of his maturity level,” said Bangor coach Fred Lower, whose team is 5-1 on the season. “He was a competitor last year, but sometimes maturity got him a little bit, but in all three games he’s pitched this summer he’s been very mature. He’s not tried to do too much.

“The tendency is that he’s an older kid coming back to play his last year and he’s going to try to overpower people, and he does that, but he’s also letting the defense play behind him. He’s done an excellent job.”

Cox relied on his fastball and slider against the 3-4 Falcons, and was aided by some stellar defense from center fielder Tom Crews and right fielder Kyle Vanidestine.

Vanidestine short-circuited a Brewer rally in the first inning with a running catch deep in the right-center field gap to take extra bases away from Brewer’s Chris Maguire. Rick Adams scored from second on what turned out to be a sacrifice fly, but Cox shut out Brewer the rest of the way.

“I know I can go up in the zone and if I miss my spot I can rely on [the outfielders] to catch it,” said Cox. “Chris Maguire had a nice hit in the gap, and I left that fastball up. I tried to pitch it up on purpose, but I left it a little too much down but Vanidestine got a good jump on the ball and made a nice catch.”

Crews robbed Maguire of extra bases in the fourth, racing into left-center to make a fully laid-out diving catch.

“Right when it hit off the bat I got a good jump on the ball because I could see it pretty well, so I just ran,” said Crews. “I thought I had a chance so I took a risk and dove for it and ended up making a pretty good catch.”

Vanidestine capped off the defensive showcase in the seventh, racing into foul territory to make a diving catch against Brewer’s Brad Brown.

“It’s always awesome when you’re on the mound and you look at your outfield and they’re fast as lightning,” said Cox. “We’ve got the fastest kids on the team in the outfield. They’ve got good arms, good heads, they’re always into it and getting good jumps on the balls.”

Bangor managed just six hits off Brewer pitchers Greg Higgins and Jim Nicknair, but four came in the third inning when the Comrades took a 3-1 lead. Alex Gallant and Tyson Barron each grounded a single to center before Crews drove both home with a 385-foot triple off the base of the fence in left-center. Crews scored when Shane Walton then tripled down the right-field line.

Bangor added its final run in the fourth. Gallant was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on a throwing error after a groundout by Barron.

Walton was the game’s lone repeat hitter with two singles, while Gordon Webb added a double for Bangor.

Brewer’s only hits were a fourth-inning single by Prentiss Swett and a sixth-inning single by Pat Dedmon.

The Falcons committed just one error and came up with some defensive gems of their own, particularly a leaping catch by Maguire of a liner by Vanidestine in the bottom of the first and a diving catch by Dedmon in left field to rob Ian Edwards in the third.

COMRADES 4, FALCONS 1

Brewer (3-4) Bangor (5-1)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Adams, 2b 1 1 0 0 Vanidestine, rf 2 0 0

Robbins, cf 2 0 0 0 Jo. Cox, 2b 3 0 0

Maguire, 3b 2 0 0 1 Webb, c 3 0 1 0

Swett, rf 3 0 1 0 L. Hackett, pr 0 0 0

Brown, 1b 3 0 0 0 S. Hackett, 1b 3 0 0

Wadleigh, c 3 0 0 0 Edwards, ss 2 0 0

Dedmon, lf 2 0 1 0 Moore, pr 0 0 0

White, dh 2 0 0 0 Gallant, lf 2 2 0

Jackson, ss 2 0 0 0 Barron, dh 3 1 0

Crews, cf 3 1 1 2

Walton, 3b 2 0 2 1

Totals 20 1 2 1 Totals 23 4 6 3

Brewer 100 000 0 – 1

Bangor 030 100 x – 4

E-Brown; LOB-Brewer 2, Bangor 5; 2B-Webb; 3B-Crews, Walton; S-Robbins; SF-Maguire; SB-Gallant

Brewer IP H R ER BB SO

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

Nicknair 1 1/3 1 0 0 0 0

Bangor IP H R ER BB SO

Ji. Cox (W, 3-0) 7 2 1 1 2 4

HBP-Gallant (by Higgins); T-1:44; ATT-200 (est.)