Brewer, Trenton, PI posted Saturday victories

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BANGOR – Top-ranked Trenton used its second straight complete-game pitching effort and Brewer scored its second-straight extra-inning victory Saturday to remain unbeaten after Day 2 of the American Legion Zone 1 baseball tournament at the Winkin Baseball Complex.

Trenton eliminated No. 3 Waldo 4-1 while No. 4 Brewer outlasted No. 2 Bangor 2-0 in 11 innings in the final game of the tripleheader. No. 5 Presque Isle also stayed alive, rallying past Penquis 14-13 in the first elimination game of the six-team event.

Prentiss Swett’s bases-loaded ground single through a drawn-in Bangor infield with no outs in the bottom of the 11th was the difference as Brewer defeated Bangor for the first time in three meetings this summer.

This was a game dominated by starting pitchers Jim Nicknair of Brewer and Ian Edwards of Bangor, each of whom allowed just three hits in nine scoreless innings before giving way to the bullpens.

Brewer’s Chris Maguire, who also got a win in relief Friday when the Falcons edged Waldo 4-3 in 10 innings, worked two scoreless innings to get his second tournament victory.

Billy Bissell led off the Brewer 11th by being hit by a Neal Russell pitch. Maguire then doubled to right-center before Cam Wadleigh was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Swett then went to the opposite field with a 1-2 pitch to drive home the game’s only runs.

Trenton used a brilliant two-hitter by Josh Astbury to oust Waldo. The righthander, who will be a senior at George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill in the fall, struck out seven and walked four in his longest career outing, and faced more than four batters in an inning only once.

“The fastball’s normally my best pitch,” said Astbury, a second-team All-Zone 1 choice. “My off-speed pitch and curveball weren’t what they normally are, but the slider was working for me today and the changeup was working good, too.

“But mostly it was the fastball.”

Astbury faced just one major jam, that in the eighth inning with Trenton holding a 2-0 lead. Tyler Miles drew a leadoff walk and Tom Cameron singled to center, and after Astbury got Gabe Blodgett to fly out to shallow center, Miles scored when Trenton shortstop Blake Wessel couldn’t handle Casey Ashey’s grounder up the middle.

Astbury retired Miles Davee on a first-pitch popup before Wessel made up for his mistake with a diving stop of Noah Burke’s sharp grounder up the middle that led to an inning-ending forceout.

“It wasn’t so much my arm was getting sore, but my whole body physically was getting tired,” said Astbury of the fatigue he battled late in the game. “It was the first time I’ve ever thrown nine innings, normally I’m used to just throwing seven.”

Astbury needed to be strong to outduel Waldo’s Nate Adams, who scattered eight hits while striking out two and walking five – including four intentional walks to Henry, the Zone 1 player of the year.

Adams shut out the Acadians until the fifth, when Wessel hit a two-out double to deep center and scored on a single to left by Collin Ciomei.

Trenton added a run in the sixth when Kyle Shea hit a one-out single to right and scored on Sam Merrill’s triple to right-center.

The Acadians added two insurance runs in the eighth. Nick Swanson and Lucas Marks opened with back-to-back triples, and Marks then scored on a sacrifice fly to left by Merrill.

In the opener, Mike Cleary’s suicide squeeze drove home Hunter Caron with the winning run to cap off a three-run Presque Isle rally with one out in the bottom of the ninth.

Logan York and Pat Thibodeau preceded Cleary’s bunt with RBI singles as the Patriots countered a four-run uprising by Penquis in the top of the inning fueled back-to-back two-run, two-out singles by Nick Emery and Brad Brown.

Cleary finished with three singles and three RBIs to pace Presque Isle’s 17-hit attack. Emery led Penquis with a double, single and three RBIs, while Danny Kane, Scott Kelley, Dan Beatham, Tom Collins and Brad Bellemare each singled twice and Andrew Richard hit a two-run triple.

(Saturday’s First Game)

Penquis (10-12) 106 001 014 – 13 16 2

Presque Isle (13-9) 022 016 003 – 14 17 4

Beatham, Weymouth (6), Kelley (8) and Brown; Lamoureux, Caron (7), A. York (9) and Austin, Soucy (3)

(Saturday’s Second Game)

Waldo (15-7) 000 000 010 – 1 2 1

Trenton (20-2) 000 011 02x – 4 8 1

Adams and Burke; Astbury and Marks

(Third Game)

Brewer (14-8) 000 000 000 01 – 2 5 1

Bangor (18-4) 000 000 000 00 – 0 6 1

Nicknair, Maguire (10) and Wadleigh; Edwards, Russell (10) and Webb