Bangor offense is in full swing Comrades total 12 hits, top Brewer

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BREWER – The Bangor American Legion baseball team – full of players whose high school season extended to the Class A state championship game in mid-June – may be gaining its offensive second wind.

The Comrades have amassed 47 hits in their last four games, including 12 Thursday night in a 10-5 victory over Brewer at Heddericg Field.

“At the beginning of the season we were a little down and in a little bit of a hitting funk, but lately the facts and scores show that we’ve been hitting better,” said Bangor leadoff hitter Kyle Vanidestine. “That’s why we’ve been winning games.”

Vanidestine had a double and two singles with two runs scored and three RBIs in helping Bangor improve its record to 9-3, just a half-game behind second-place Waldo in the Zone 1 standings. Waldo (10-3) dropped a 4-3 decision to Zone 1-leading Trenton (11-2) on Thursday night.

Brewer falls to 6-6, good for fifth place, but four teams – Hampden, Orono, Penquis and Lincoln – are all within 11/2 games of the Falcons as those teams also battle for berths in the six-team zone playoffs that begin July 27.

Alex Gallant added a solo home run, a single and two RBIs for Bangor, while Shane Walton doubled and singled and Gordon Webb singled twice.

“We got some key hits, and we’re finally starting to hit the ball when we have runners on base,” said Bangor coach Fred Lower. “There were a few games when we were struggling a little bit when we just weren’t capitalizing on opportunities. We’d get guys on base and just not have that big hit.”

That was the case early in this game, too, as Bangor stranded five runners in the first two innings while Brewer took a 2-0 first-inning lead on a two-out RBI single by Cam Wadleigh and a successful double steal that ended with Prentiss Swett scoring from third base.

Bangor took the lead with four runs on five hits in the top of the third. Webb led off with a single to left, went to second on a wild pitch and to third on a single to left by Alex Gallant before scoring on an errant pickoff throw by Brewer starter Chris Maguire – one of six errors by the Falcons.

Ian Edwards doubled home Gallant, and a walk to Scott Hackett and a single by Walton loaded the bases. Maguire retired the next batter for the second out before Vanidestine grounded an 0-1 pitch into left field for a two-run single to make it 4-2.

“I knew it was important to get those runners in because early in the game we were leaving runners on base, so I just put my bat on the ball,” said Vanidestine.

Gallant homered to straightaway center with one out in the fourth to extend Bangor’s lead to 5-2.

Brewer capitalized on three walks by Bangor reliever Jim Cox in the bottom of the inning, with Eric White scoring on a wild pitch and Eddie Robbins singling home Matt Jackson to cut the gap to 5-4.

Bangor pushed its lead back to 8-4 in the fifth, thanks to a pair of Brewer errors, a double by Walton and an RBI fielder’s choice by Vanidestine.

Brewer scored its final run in the bottom of the fifth. Maguire hit a leadoff single, went to second on catcher’s interference that allowed Swett to reach base and to third on a fielder’s choice by Wadleigh before scoring on a sacrifice fly by White.

Bangor added two runs in the seventh, a rally highlighted by a single by John Cox, a double by Vanidestine and an RBI fielder’s choice by Gallant.

COMRADES 10, FALCONS 5

Bangor (9-3) Brewer (6-6)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Vanidestine, rf 5 2 3 3 Adams, 2b 3 0

Crews, cf 4 0 1 0 Robbins, cf 3 0 1

Leeman, ph 1 0 0 0 Maguire, p-3b 4 2 0

Webb, c 4 1 2 0 Swett, 1b 2 1 0

Ferland, pr 0 0 0 0 Wadleigh, c 4 0 1

Gallant, lf-p 5 2 2 2 Bissell, pr 0 0

Barron, dh 4 0 0 0 White, p-lf 1 1 1

Kelley, 2b 1 0 0 0 McLaughlin, 3b 1 0 0

Edwards, ss-p 3 1 1 1 Smith, lf 1 0

S. Hackett, 1b 2 2 0 0 Dedmon, rf 3 0

Walton, 3b 2 1 2 0 Jackson, ss 2 1 0

Jo. Cox, 2b-ss 3 1 1 0 Kotredes, ph 1 0

L. Hackett, pr 0 0 0 0

Totals 34 10 12 6 Totals 25 5 8 3

Bangor 004 130 2 – 10

Brewer 200 210 0 – 5

E-Webb; Adams 2, McLaughlin, Maguire, Wadleigh, Smith; LOB-Bangor 10, Brewer 6; 2B-Vanidestine, Edwards, Walton; Adams; 3B-Kotredes; HR-Gallant; SF-White; SB-Vanidestine 2, S. Hackett

Bangor IP H R ER BB SO

Clarke 3 5 2 2 2 1

Ji. Cox 1 1 2 2 3 1

Russell (W) 1 1 1 0 0 1

Edwards 1 1 0 0 0 1

Gallant 1 0 0 0 0 2

Brewer IP H R ER BB SO

Maguire (L) 5 10 8 6 4 5

White 2 2 2 2 2 0

HBP-Edwards (by Maguire); WP-Clarke 2, Ji. Cox; Maguire, White 2; T-2:21; ATT-150 (est.)