Bangor rallies to win Comrades edge Trenton in 9th

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BANGOR – Jordan Clarke’s two-out single in the bottom of the ninth inning drove home Ian Edwards to give the Bangor Comrades a come-from-behind 10-9 American Legion Zone 1 baseball victory over previously undefeated Trenton at Mansfield Stadium on Tuesday night.

“I was just looking to put the ball in play,” said Clarke, who had stranded six baserunners by making the final outs of the fifth and sixth innings. “The previous two at-bats didn’t work out for me, so I just wanted to put it in play and put our team on top.”

Edwards opened the Bangor ninth by reaching on an infield error, and he advanced to second on a one-out single to center by Devin Lyshon.

After Trenton reliever Josh Astbury retired the next batter, Clarke hit a 1-0 pitch to center field and Edwards – seeing his first full-time duty since the high school season due to a hamstring injury – never hesitated and beat the throw home to give the Comrades’ a dramatic victory.

“It feels a lot better,” said Edwards of his hamstring. “I’ve been able to do some workouts and conditioning for football, which has helped it a lot. It felt good enough to score from second. There’s some tightness, but I’m just happy to finally be able to play.”

Trenton (7-1) built a 7-0 lead through 41/2 innings, but Bangor starter Darren Casey-Covell slowed the Acadians’ offense in the middle innings and the Comrades rallied with three runs in the fifth inning and three more runs in the sixth.

“Trenton came out and jumped on us early, and I think it was an eye-opener,” said Bangor coach Fred Lower. “But never once did we get down. The dugout was up the whole time, guys were motivated.

“We knew the first four or five innings they were hitting ground balls that were getting through, but we just had to keep battling and we’d have our time.”

Trenton stretched its lead to 8-6 on an RBI double by Collin Ciomei in the top of the seventh, but a bases-loaded walk to Edwards and an RBI single by Shane Walton in the bottom of the seventh forced extra innings.

Each team scored an unearned run in the eighth before Edwards came on to pitch in relief in the ninth, retiring the Acadians in order to earn the win.

Lyshon had four singles to pace Bangor’s 16-hit attack, while No. 9 hitter Cody McInnis had three singles and Walton, Kyle Vanidestine and Alan Reese had two singles each for the 6-2 Comrades, who won despite stranding 17 baserunners.

“Cody McInnis had three hits, Devin Lyshon put the ball in play every time and Alan Reese had two fantastic bunts,” said Lower. “We just needed to put the ball in play to generate some offense, and they were sparkplugs for us in doing that.”

Ciomei had a double, three singles and three RBIs for Trenton, while Calvin Tweedie added a triple and two singles with four runs scored and an RBI.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

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COMRADES 10, ACADIANS 9, 9 INN.

Trenton (7-1) Bangor (6-2)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Saunders, ss 4 0 0 0 Vanidestine, cf 3 2 1

A. Kaspala, lf 5 1 1 0 Kelley, ss 2 0

Marks, c 5 1 0 0 Reese, 2b 3 2 0

Tweedie, 1b 5 4 3 1 Webb, c 6 1 0 0

Ciomei, rf 5 1 4 3 Edwards, 1b-p 4 2 2

Astbury, 3b-p 4 0 1 1 S. Walton, 3b 5 2

Manning, dh 3 0 1 1 Lyshon, dh-p-1b 6 0 2

Hodge, 3b 0 1 0 0 Moore, pr 0 0 0

E. Walton, cf 2 0 0 0 Savage, lf 2 0

Hines, ph 1 0 0 0 Burns, lf 2 0 1

G. Kaspala, 2b 1 1 1 1 Larochelle, rf 2 0

Worrick, ph 1 0 0 0 Clarke, rf 4 1 1

McInnis, 2b-ss 4 2 3 0

Totals 36 9 11 7 Totals 43 10 16 9

Trenton 203 110 110 – 9

Bangor 000 033 211 – 10

Two outs when winning run scored.

E-Saunders 2, Marks, G. Kaspala, Hodge; McInnis 2, Kelley, Edwards; LOB-Trenton 5, Bangor 17; 2B-Ciomei; Edwards; 3B-Tweedie; DP-Bangor 1; S-E. Walton; Reese; SF-Vanidestine; SB-Ciomei; Vanidestine, Kelley, S. Walton, Lyshon

Trenton IP H R ER BB SO

Dickinson 5 7 3 3 4 9

Astbury (L) 3 2/3 9 7 4 2 3

Bangor IP H R ER BB SO

Casey-Covell 7 1/3 11 9 6 4 2

Lyshon 2/3 0 0 0 0 0

Edwards (W) 1 0 0 0 0 2

Dickinson faced one batter in 6th.

HBP-Edwards, Vanidestine (by Dickinson); WP-Casey-Covell 3; T-3:11; ATT-100 (est.)