Marks, Hale lift Trenton to doubleheader sweep

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BLUE HILL – Trenton has been a streaky team throughout this summer’s American Legion baseball season.

And with the Zone 1 tournament looming next weekend, the Acadians hope the streak they extended with an 11-0, 14-11 doubleheader sweep of Motor City of Bangor on Saturday represents how they will play once postseason play arrives.

Coach Bill Gray’s club matched its collective 25-run outburst with 25 hits to support the complete-game pitching performances of Caleb Hale and Josh Astbury and forge its second seven-game winning streak of the season.

Trenton, which began the day tied for second place in the 11-team zone, improved to 14-5 before dropping a 9-6, 10-inning decision to top-ranked Brewer in its regular-season final Sunday.

That sends Trenton – which won its first seven games before losing five straight – into postseason play with wins in seven of its last eight games.

“We’ve hit the ball real well and we’re really stepping it up on defense,” said Trenton catcher Lucas Marks, who went 4-for-6 in the two games against Motor City with four runs scored and four RBIs. “We’re really making the routine play. You don’t always need to make the great plays, but we’re getting the outs.”

“When we lost those games we just got into a little funk. We couldn’t hit the ball to save our lives, but eventually we slowly got it going and now we’re back hitting like we were. When we hit the ball we can play with anybody.”

Motor City, which had been contending for the sixth and final playoff berth in the zone, ended its regular season at 8-12.

Hale dominated Motor City in the opener, as the recent George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill graduate struck out three and walked no one while requiring just 68 pitches – 52 for strikes.

“When I hit the spots, things go right,” he said. “I just go out there and throw and hope I don’t throw a lot of pitches because if I do I’ll come out early and I don’t like to come out early.

The righthander took a no-hitter into the fifth before Charlie Merritt belted a long one-out double to center field.

“It was a two-seam fastball and I got it up, and that wasn’t a good place to leave it,” said Hale of the first pitch he threw to the Motor City first baseman during that at-bat.

Just three runners reached base overall against Hale, who did not go to a three-ball count against any batter and didn’t throw more than nine pitches in any inning after the second.

“That’s how Caleb’s been all season, school ball and Legion ball,” said Marks. “He’s always gone right after hitters and pitched to contact, and I think that’s what makes him so effective when we play good defense.”

Motor City’s biggest threat came in the first but was thwarted by a big defensive play. Jon Gagnon reached second on a two-out throwing error, then Nick Smith lofted a long opposite-field fly to deep right, only to have Trenton’s Collin Ciomei reach up to make the catch and maintain control as he flipped over the outfield fence.

Trenton took the lead with four runs on five hits in the bottom of the third, with an RBI double by Marks and run-scoring singles by Astbury and Nate Hines highlighting the rally.

Marks also singled in the contest and finished with two RBIs, while No. 9 hitter Ebb Walton and leadoff hitter Nick Saunders added a double and a single apiece and Pete Dickinson hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning.

Trenton pounded out 14 hits in the second game while erasing an early 5-2 deficit.

The Acadians scored five runs in the fifth inning and four runs in the sixth in support of Astbury’s pitching, which included 10 strikeouts.

Calvin Tweedie led the Acadians’ offense with a double, two singles and four RBIs, while Marks, Walton, Morgan Lawson, Joe Swanson and Garrett Kaspala contributed two hits each.

“Our last five or six games we’ve been really tearing the cover off the ball,” said Marks, “and the first seven games we won we were hitting the ball well, too. It was just those five games in between when it didn’t work out so well.”

Gagnon had a two-run double and a sacrifice fly for Motor City, while Ryan Carr had three singles, Johnny Diamond hit a two-run double and a single and Andrew Casey and Merritt each singled twice.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

990-8045

ACADIANS 11, MOTOR CITY 0

(First Game)

Motor City Trenton

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Healey, p-lf 1 0 0 0 Saunders, ss 2 1 1

Christie, lf 1 0 0 0 Ciomei, rf 4 1 0

Diamond, p 1 0 0 0 Marks, c 3 2 2

Casey, 2b 3 0 0 0 Tweedie, dh 4 0 0

J. Gagnon, lf-p-cf 3 0 0 0 Astbury, 3b 2 1

N. Smith, c 3 0 0 0 Dickinson, 3b 2 1 2

C. Smith, cf-lf 3 0 0 0 A. Kaspala, lf 2 0

Merritt, 1b 3 0 1 0 Swanson, lf 1 2 0

M. Gagnon, rf 2 0 0 0 Hines, 1b 1 1

Pooler, 3b 2 0 0 0 Worrick, ph 0 0 0

Leadbetter, 3b 0 0 0 0 G. Kaspala, 2b 2 0

Carr, ss 2 0 1 0 Lawson, ph 1 0 0

Walton, cf 4 2 2 2

Totals 24 0 2 0 Totals 28 11 11 9

Motor City 000 000 0 – 0

Trenton 004 133 x – 11

E-Carr, Casey; Astbury; LOB-Motor City 3, Trenton 7; 2B-Merritt; Saunders, Marks, Walton; HR-Dickinson; SB-Saunders 2, Ciomei 2, Marks, Astbury, A. Kaspala, Hines

Motor City IP H R ER BB SO

Healey 1 0 0 0 1 0

J. Gagnon 1 0 0 0 1 1

C. Smith (L) 2 7 5 4 0 0

Diamond 2 4 6 5 3 0

Trenton IP H R ER BB SO

Hale (W) 7 2 0 0 0 3

HBP-G. Kaspala (by J. Gagnon), Saunders (by C. Smith), Hines (by Diamond); WP-Diamond 3; T-1:46

ACADIANS 14, MOTOR CITY 11

(Second Game)

Motor City (8-12) Trenton (14-5)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Diamond, rf 4 1 2 2 A. Kaspala, cf 3 2 0

M. Gagnon, rf 1 0 0 0 G. Kaspala, 2b 3 1

Casey, 2b 3 1 2 2 Marks, 3b-c 3 2 2

J. Gagnon, lf 4 1 1 3 Tweedie, 1b 4 4

N. Smith, p 5 0 0 0 Worrick, c 4 0 0

C. Smith, cf 4 1 1 0 Dickinson, ss 3 2 1

Merritt, 1b 4 0 2 0 Lawson, lf 4 1 2

Healey, pr 0 0 0 0 Hines, dh-3b 2 0 0

Christie, pr 0 1 0 0 Swanson, dh 2 1 2

Potter, c 3 2 1 0 Walton, rf 3 1 2

Leadbetter, 3b 3 1 1 0

Pooler, 3b 1 1 1 0

Carr, ss 3 2 3 1

Totals 35 11 14 8 Totals 31 14 14 14

Motor City 051 000 5 – 11

Trenton 203 054 x – 14

E-Merritt, Pooler; Marks; LOB-Motor City 8, Trenton 4; 2B-Diamond, J. Gagnon, C. Smith; Marks, Tweedie, Swanson; SF-J. Gagnon; Marks; SB-Walton 2, G. Kaspala

Motor City IP H R ER BB SO

N. Smith (L) 6 14 14 11 3 4

Home IP H R ER BB SO

Astbury (W) 7 14 11 9 2 10

HBP-Casey (by Astbury); WP-N. Smith 2; Astbury 2; T-1:58; ATT-60 (est.)