BANGOR – John Bapst of Bangor and Old Town have emerged as two of the upper-echelon teams in the Eastern Maine Class B baseball ranks this spring.

So it was no surprise their meeting at the Winkin Baseball Complex on Saturday came down to the last play.

And when Old Town, with runners on first and third with two out in the top of the seventh, got aggressive on the basepaths, John Bapst had the defensive answer to preserve a 5-4 victory.

The win was the sixth in seven games for 9-3 John Bapst. Old Town, which defeated Bapst 11-2 earlier this season, is 8-5.

Senior righthander Aaron Healey improved his record to 5-1 with a seven-hitter. He had absorbed the earlier loss at Old Town in large part due to pitching wildness, but walked just two in the rematch.

“That first game was after a short rest and I was very disappointed with my performance,” said Healey, who worked the corners with his fastball during an 84-pitch performance in the rematch. “We were all looking for redemption from that game.”

Neither team led by more than one run, beginning when Josh Coffin tripled home Colin Ziegenbein in the top of the second to give Old Town a 1-0 edge.

After a single by Andrew Casey and a walk to Bill Weatherbee in the bottom of the inning, Casey Hull hit a two-run double to the left-center field gap to give Bapst a 2-1 lead.

Jason Smith – who had three singles – led off the Old Town third with a single, then stole second and went to third on a groundout by Dana Leland before scoring the tying run on a suicide squeeze by cleanup hitter Evan Paradis.

“That suicide squeeze was flawless,” said Healey. “Even if I would have known he was going, he might have still made it.”

Nick Smith gave Bapst a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third, coming all the way around to score when his drive to right field was mishandled.

Old Town regained the lead, 4-3, in the fifth. Paradis hit an RBI single and later scored on a slow roller down the first base line that resulted in a collision between batter Nick Standley and Bapst first baseman Charlie Merritt as Merritt reached across the baseline to catch the throw from Healey.

“The last thing I can remember is [Healey] shoveling it to me and then I was on the turf,” said Merritt, who remained on the ground for a few minutes before returning to play. “I had to reach across and I was just hanging out there and he ran through me.”

Merritt quickly regrouped and tied the game in the bottom of the inning with a two-out single through the shortstop hole to drive home Nick Smith, who had singled and advanced on a wild pitch.

Bapst scored the game-winning run in the sixth. Bill Weatherbee led off with an infield hit and pinch-hitter Chase Huckestein had a bunt single before Weatherbee scored on back-to-back groundouts by Hull and Healey.

Old Town mounted a final, two-out threat in the seventh. Lance Getchell singled to right and went to third as Standley reached on an outfield error.

Standley attempted a delayed steal of second on the next pitch, and Nick Smith, the John Bapst catcher, faked a throw to second to draw Getchell off third. Smith then one-hopped the throw to third, but Ryan Carr caught the ball off the artificial turf to start the game-ending rundown.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

990-8045

CRUSADERS 5, COYOTES 4

(Saturday Afternoon)

Old Town (8-5) John Bapst (9-3)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Cates, lf 4 0 0 0 Hull, cf 4 0 2

J. Smith, 2b 4 2 3 0 Healey, p 3 0 1

Leland, c-p 4 0 0 0 Gallant, ss 4 0 0

Paradis, ss 2 1 1 2 N. Smith, c 3 2 0

Getchell, 1b 4 0 1 0 Merritt, 1b 3 0 1

Standley, dh-c 4 0 0 1 M. Gagnon, pr 0 0

Estes, p 0 0 0 0 J. Gagnon, lf 2 0 0

Demmons, rf 3 0 0 0 Casey, 2b 3 1 0

Ziegenbein, cf 2 1 1 0 Weatherbee, rf 2 0

Coffin, 3b 2 0 1 1 Duplisea, dh 2 0 0

Wasson, ph 1 0 0 0 Carr, 3b 2 0 0

Huckestein, ph 1 0 1 0

Totals 30 4 7 4 Totals 29 5 7 4

Old Town 011 020 0 – 4

John Bapst 021 011 x – 5

E-Paradis; Gallant, Casey, Weatherbee; LOB-Old Town 7; John Bapst 7; 2B-Hull; 3B-Coffin; S-Paradis; SB-J. Smith 2, Ziegenbein 2, Standley

Old Town IP H R ER BB SO

Estes 4 3 3 2 2 1

Leland (L, 3-2) 2 4 2 2 1 1

John Bapst IP H R ER BB SO

Healey (W, 5-1) 7 7 4 1 2 2

WP-Leland; T-1:35; ATT-125 (est.)