Bapst rolls by Eagles Merritt, Healey lead Crusaders

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ELLSWORTH – John Bapst’s batters weren’t sure what to expect in Tuesday’s game against unbeaten Ellsworth and ace Pat Kelley, who was 3-0 with three complete games and a 0.33 ERA.

They had played just one game, held hardly any outdoor practices, and seen very little live, game-condition pitching the previous two weeks.

The Crusaders of Bangor certainly didn’t expect to put up nine hits and eight runs in 4 2/3 innings en route to a 13-5 win over the Eagles on a warm and sunny afternoon.

“It’s a good statement game and something to get momentum going for us,” said Bapst coach Shane Graham, whose Crusaders improve to 4-2.

“We’ve heard a lot about how good he was and we’ve been preparing all week,” said Bapst first baseman Charlie Merritt, who helped lead a 15-hit attack with a double, two singles and two RBIs in four at-bats. “We just tried to [put the] bat on the ball and we got good results.”

There were plenty of those, from the first inning on.

The Crusaders scored once in the first on a leadoff walk to Casey Hull and back-to-back, two-out singles by Nick Smith (2 singles, one RBI) and John Gagnon (3-for-5, three singles, two RBIs).

Ellsworth came back with two in the bottom of the inning, courtesy of Brad Folmer’s leadoff walk (one of three walks he had on the day), a one-out single by Kelley, and Greg Berry’s two-run single to left center.

Bapst tied it up on Healey’s mashing of a first-pitch fastball for a 365-foot home run to dead center and retook the lead for good with three runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth.

“We just did a lot of things that were uncharacteristic for us and every time we did, they took advantage of it,” said Ellsworth coach Dana Smith, whose 7-1 Eagles have just two seniors. “Pat’s command wasn’t there. I mean, he never hits batters, and he walked some guys, which he doesn’t do. I think it was just one of those days for him.”

It was one of those days for the Crusaders as well, one of those really good days.

“This is huge for us because we’ve needed a big win,” said Merritt. “We’ve been teetering with being better than average, so this proves we are. It’s more of a confidence boost than anything. This really fires us up.”

While Merritt and Co. were flying high, Healey was keeping the Eagles’ offense grounded.

“I think once he got the lead, he just relaxed and made nice pitches when he had to,” said Coach Smith.

The righthander allowed four hits, four earned runs and six walks in six innings to go with two strikeouts.

“I was just mixing it up – curveball, fastball – and making sure they couldn’t predict me. I just wanted to be sure to keep them off balance,” Healey said. “It was location for me, definitely. I was working more away and down. It was a high strike zone, but I still tried to keep it down, and my curveball was moving a lot more.”

Kelley led the Eagles with a single and a two-run triple in the fifth inning.

aneff@bangordailynews.net

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CRUSADERS 13, EAGLES 5

John Bapst (4-2) Ellsworth (7-1)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Hull, cf-ss 3 3 1 2 Folmer, ss 1 3 0

Casey, 2b 4 2 0 1 G.Kaspala, 2b 3 1 0

Gallant, ss-p 3 1 1 2 Kelley, p-cf 3 2

Smith, c 5 0 2 1 Saunders, p 0 0 0

J.Gagnon, lf 5 2 3 2 Berry, 1b 3 0 2

Healey, p-rf 3 1 1 1 Palmacci, ph 0 0 1

Diamond, ph 1 1 1 0 Hodge, 3b 3 0 0

Merritt, 1b 4 1 3 2 Wilbur, rf 3 0 0

Storgaard, pr 0 1 0 0 A.Kaspala, cf-p 2 0

Huckestein, 3b 3 0 0 0 Maddocks, dh 2 0

M.Gagnon, ph 1 1 1 1 Kelley, lf 0 0 0

Duplisea, dh 3 0 1 0 Miller, ph 1 0 0

Bragdon, rf-cf 0 0 0 0 Carter, c 2 0

Carr, ph 1 0 1 1 Austin, ph 1 0 0

Totals 36 13 15 13 Totals 24 5 4 5

John Bapst 101 333 2 – 13

Ellsworth 200 020 1 – 5

E-Gallant, Smith, J. Gagnon; Hodge, A. Kaspala; LOB-Bapst 12; Ellsworth 6; 2B-Merritt; 3B-Gallant; Kelley; HR-Healey; DP-Casey (una.); SF-Hull, Casey, Merritt; SB-Folmer

John Bapst IP H R ER BB SO

Healey (W,3-1) 6 4 5 4 6 2

Gallant 1 0 0 0 1 0

Ellsworth IP H R ER BB SO

Kelley (L,3-1) 4 2/3 9 8 6 4 2

A.Kaspala 1 2/3 6 5 5 1 1

Saunders 2/3 0 0 0 0 0

HBP-Huckestein by Kelley, Duplisea by A. Kaspala, Hull by A. Kaspala; WP-A. Kaspala; PB-Smith; Carter; T-2:10; ATT-150 (est.)