Timely hits carry Old Town past Bapst Ziegenbein, Shanley help propel Coyotes

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BANGOR – Some say timing is everything.

Since the playoffs began, timely hitting has meant virtually everything to the Old Town baseball team.

That was again the case Saturday afternoon as the fourth-seeded Coyotes kept getting key hits in almost every big situation to upend top-seeded John Bapst of Bangor 6-2 on a bright, balmy day at Winkin Complex.

“It’s just timely hitting, really,” said Old Town center fielder Colin Ziegenbein. “All through the last couple weeks, someone always seems to get a big hit when we need one.”

It was the senior tri-captain’s turn to be one of those someones Saturday. He hit a sacrifice fly in the first to help the Coyotes take a 3-0 lead, and sparked another three-run inning in the fifth by hitting a two-run single.

Ziegenbein’s heroics gave Old Town its second win over Bapst in three meetings this season and sends the 13-6 Coyotes to Bangor’s Mansfield Stadium for a 7 p.m. Wednesday regional final date with No. 2 Gardiner, a 10-0 winner over Ellsworth on Saturday.

When your team gets only three total hits, picking the best spots to hit them becomes even more crucial. Although Old Town’s three hits drove in a total of three runs, it was another timely performance that loomed just as large – that of senior pitcher Ethan Shanley.

The senior reliever entered the game in the bottom of the third with the Indians ahead 3-0, but the bases were loaded and Bapst’s No. 6 hitter was up.

Shanley struck out Jon Gagnon on five pitches, but then yielded a two-run single on a flare to shallow left field by Andrew Casey off a 3-1 fastball. Rather than pout, Shanley regrouped and struck out the next batter on four pitches to avoid further damage.

“It was a tough situation and he’d only pitched 12 innings for us, but we wanted to go with him,” said Old Town coach Dave Utterback. “He gave them a different look and his curveball was working really well for him today.

Normally a fastball pitcher, Shanley said his curve made all the difference as he would go on to earn a win with 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.

“My curve usually works fine in practice, but not in games,” said Shanley (2-1). “Today it was working really well.”

Shanley threw 42 of 72 pitches for strikes while striking out six batters and walking none.

“He brought his ‘A’ game today,” said Bapst coach Shane Graham, whose Crusaders wind up the season 14-4. “We tried to work the count, but he kept our guys off-balance. There were no tendencies and there was no guessing correctly with him.”

The Coyotes would score all the runs they’d need in the first inning, courtesy of one hit, two walks, and two Bapst errors. Tyler Cates walked to lead off, Jason Smith singled and Evan Paradis walked to load the bases. Cates and Smith scored on an outfield error and Paradis went to third via an infield error before Ziegenbein got the first of three RBIs on the day with a sacrifice fly.

Ziegenbein got the last two of those RBI’s in the fifth via a two-run single on a flare to shallow center. His hit followed back-to-back walks, a hit batter, and an RBI line-drive single up the middle by Dana Leland.

“This wasn’t the coaches or me doing anything. This was the kids. They did this,” said Old Town coach David Utterback. “They’ve really pretty much put it all together the last few days.”

Jon Gagnon and Kyle Gallant combined on a three-hitter. Gagnon gave up one, but took the tough-luck loss.

aneff@bangordailynews.net

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COYOTES 6, CRUSADERS 2

(Saturday Afternoon)

Old Town (13-6) John Bapst (14-4)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Cates, lf 2 1 0 0 Hull, cf-ss 4 0 0

Smith, 2b 3 2 1 0 Healey, lf 2 1 0

Paradis, ss 1 2 0 0 Gallant, ss-p 4 1 0

Leland, c 4 1 1 1 Smith, c 3 0 0

Ziegenbein, cf 1 0 1 3 Merritt, 1b 2 0

Wasson, dh 2 0 0 0 J.Gagnon, p-cf 2 0 0

Standley, ph 1 0 0 0 Casey, 2b 3 0 2

Getchell, 1b 3 0 0 0 M.Gagnon, rf 3 0 0

Demmons, rf 2 0 0 0 Carr, 3b 2 0 0

Coffin, 3b 2 0 0 0 Huckstein, ph 1 0 0

Totals 21 6 3 4 Totals 26 2 4 2

Old Town 300 030 0 – 6

John Bapst 002 000 0 – 2

E-Smith, Leland; Healey, Casey; LOB-Old Town 4; John Bapst 7; SF-Ziegenbein; SB-Paradis, Getchell, Ziegenbein 2, Smith, Leland, Coffin; Hull

Old Town IP H R ER BB SO

Estes 2 1/3 1 2 0 4 1

Shanley (W, 2-1) 4 2/3 3 0 0 0 6

John Bapst IP H R ER BB SO

J.Gagnon (L, 3-2) 4 1/3 1 3 0 5 3

Gallant 2 2/3 2 3 3 3 3

HBP-Paradis (by Gallant); T-2:10; ATT-200 (est.)