Patient Old Town rallies by Camden Hills in 8th Single by Evan Paradis drives in game-winner

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OLD TOWN – On a breezy afternoon filled with extra-base hits, it took a high-chopping ground ball that never left the infield to lift Old Town past Camden Hills of Rockport 9-8 in an Eastern Maine Class B baseball playoff Tuesday.

That ground ball, an infield single by senior shortstop Evan Paradis, came with two out in the bottom of the eighth and drive home Josh Coffin with the winning run.

Coffin led off the inning with a double to center and advanced to third on a groundout by Tyler Cates. After a strikeout, Paradis bounced a chopper over the head of drawn-in Camden Hills third baseman Taylor Gartley, and while shortstop A.J. Hunt fielded the ball, he had no play on Paradis at first base while Coffin scored.

“I didn’t notice [Gartley] at all until I hit the ball,” said Paradis. “Once I saw he was playing so shallow, I was just thinking if it gets over his head it’s a base hit we win the game, so I was just running as fast as I could down the line.”

The win advances No. 4 Old Town (11-6) to a home quarterfinal Thursday against No. 5 Caribou, which defeated Foxcroft Academy 12-1 on Tuesday.

This game was all Camden Hills early, with starting pitcher Jake Grinnell hitting a three-run home run to cap off a five-run third-inning rally and the No. 13 Windjammers adding an unearned run in the top of the fourth to take a 6-0 lead.

But with the wind blowing out, no lead was safe, and Old Town used four doubles to aid its comeback.

“We’ve always had that attitude that we’re never going to give up until that last out’s made in the seventh,” said Old Town coach Dave Utterback. “I guess the good thing was they scored all of those runs early and we did have a lot of innings to try and get back into it.”

The comeback began with a four-run uprising in the bottom of the fourth, as Grinnell struggled with his control after an efficient first three innings. The lefthander walked three batters in the fourth, while Paradis hit an RBI single and Colin Ziegenbein doubled to extend the rally.

“We were impatient the first few innings,” said Utterback, and we just told our guys to wait on the ball, sit back, wait and let it come to you. The dugout did a nice job of keeping our guys up and in the game. The intensity out of this dugout was just amazing today. I think that had a little bit to do with their guy losing a little bit of focus.”

Old Town took a 7-6 lead with three runs in the fifth. Jason Smith reached on a wild pitch after striking out and went to second on an errant pickoff throw before scoring on a single to center by Paradis.

Dana Leland followed with an RBI double and scored the go-ahead run on a two-out single by Kevin Demmons.

“I think we had them where we wanted them, that’s where you hope to be in any baseball game, putting pressure on them early,” said Camden Hills coach Tom Stammen. “But you’ve got to continue to make plays, and I think we gave them a window of opportunity and they took advantage.”

Old Town made it 8-6 in the sixth on an RBI double by Smith, but Camden Hills tied the game in the seventh when Phil Curll popped a single to right and Gordon Fischer skied a two-run homer to left – the Windjammers’ fifth extra-base hit.

That was about the only bad pitch thrown by Old Town reliever Nick Standley, who earned the win by scattering four hits over 5 2/3 innings.

“I was pretty much just throwing strikes to just give us a chance,” said Standley. “I was keeping the ball low except for that one big shot, just rolling out ground balls and hoping the offense would do it for us.”

Paradis led Old Town with three singles and three RBIs, while Smith doubled and singled.

Curll had two doubles and a single for Camden Hills, while Fischer singled twice along with his home run.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

990-8045

COYOTES 9, WINDJAMMERS 8

(Tuesday Afternoon, 8 innings)

Camden Hills (7-10) Old Town (11-6)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Calloway, c 4 1 0 0 Cates, lf 5 1 0

Curll, 2b 4 2 3 1 Smith, 2b 5 2 1

Fischer, lf 4 2 3 2 Paradis, ss 4 2 3

Grinnell, p 3 1 1 3 Leland, c 4 1 2

Landwehr, p 1 0 0 0 Ziegenbein, cf 4 1 0

Blodgett, p 0 0 0 0 Getchell, 1b 3 0 0

Dufour, dh 2 0 0 0 Bartlett, pr 0 0 0

T. Gartley, 3b 0 0 0 0 Demmons, rf 3 1

Crockett, pr 0 0 0 0 Wasson, dh 2 0 0

Denham, cf 4 0 0 0 Estes, p 0 0 0

Hart, 1b 3 1 1 0 Standley, p 0 0 0

Hunt, ss 3 1 1 0 Hamm, pr 0 0 0

Adolphsen, rf 2 0 0 1 Coffin, 3b 3 1

Kennedy, ph 1 0 0 0

Totals 31 8 9 7 Totals 33 9 9 8

Camden Hills 005 100 20 – 8

Old Town 000 431 01 – 9

Two out when winning run scored.

E-Grinnell, Denham, Hart, Landwehr; Coffin, Leland, Paradis; LOB-Camden Hills 5, Old Town 7; 2B-Curll 2, Smith, Leland, Ziegenbein; 3B-Hunt; HR-Grinnell, Fischer; DP-Camden Hills 1, Old Town 1; S-Hunt; SB-Calloway, Fischer, Hart, Adolphsen; Paradis, Bartlett

Camden Hills IP H R ER BB SO

Grinnell 4 4 6 6 4 7

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

Blodgett 2/3 1 0 0 0 1

Old Town IP H R ER BB SO

Estes 2 1/3 5 5 4 0 0

Standley (W, 1-0) 5 2/3 4 3 3 4 2

HBP-Getchell (by Landwehr); WP-Grinnell 4; BK-Grinnell; T-2:05; ATT-275 (est.)