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BANGOR – The American Legion Zone 1 baseball ranks will have a decidedly different look at this year’s state tournament.
Fifth-ranked Hampden and No, 4 Steamboat Petroleum of Waldo County earned those coveted berths with victories during Day 3 of the zone tourney Sunday at the Winkin Baseball Complex.
Hampden remained unbeaten in the double-elimination event with a 5-2 win over Trenton, while Steamboat Petroleum ousted No. 2 Bangor 5-3.
No. 3 Trenton had stayed alive earlier in the day by eliminating top-seeded Brewer 7-6.
Hampden and once-beaten Steamboat Petroleum will meet in today’s championship round at 4 p.m., with Hampden needing one win to clinch the zone title and Steamboat Petroleum needing to defeat the Riverdogs twice to earn the zone’s top seed for the state tournament, which begins Saturday at Augusta.
Both Brewer and Bangor had represented the zone at the state tournament each of the last three years, and this will mark the first time since 1998 that at least one of those teams had not advanced to the states.
Hampden (14-9) got its third straight complete-game pitching performance of the tournament, this time from Derek Amoroso, to earn its first-ever trip to the states.
The righthander struck out 10 and walked two while mixing a fastball, curve and changeup.”
“I just tried to throw strikes but not let them have anything good to hit,” said Amoroso. ” I pretty much could hit my spots, my control was pretty good tonight.”
Amoroso scattered 10 hits but did not allow an earned run.
“I saw a good changeup and a very good curveball that caught a lot of people off guard,” said center fielder Shawn Smith, who had pitched Hampden past Bangor in Friday’s opening round of the tourney.
“He really mixed it up, and he challenged people when they needed to be challenged.”
Trenton (16-8) also got a complete-game performance from Calvin Tweedie, who struck out seven and walked five.
Hampden took a 1-0 lead in the first when Josh Tardiff singled home Cody Johndro.
Trenton tied the game with an unearned run in the third before Hampden got some breathing room with three runs in the fifth, thanks in part to singles by Jordan Richards and Smith, an RBI single by Tardiff and a sacrifice fly by Patrick Stephens.
Hampden added its final run in the seventh on an RBI single by Stephens.
Trenton scored its final run in the ninth when Collin Ciomei doubled and scored on an error.
The win was the seventh straight for Hampden, which was 7-9 less than two weeks ago and uncertain of even qualifying for postseason play.
“It shows the character of these guys,” said Hampden coach Jason Folsom. “When their backs are against the wall, they come through and compete and get the job done.”
Steamboat Petroleum (15-8) used the gutsy pitching of Tyler Miles and Nate Adams to subdue Bangor and with Hampden’s subsequent win earn its first trip to the state tourney since 1997.
Miles, who earned Steamboat Petroleum’s 5-4, i11-inning win over Brewer on Saturday with 5 2/3 innings of one-run relief, came back a day later to allowed one run on two hits over five innings to gain his second victory in as many days.
Miles’ performance backed up Adams, who started two days after an eight-inning complete-game effort on Friday and allowed two hits over the first four innings.
“My arm was fine,” said Miles, the 2007 Zone 1 pitcher of the year. “Me and Nate both have rubber arms.”
Bangor (16-7) took a 2-0 lead in the second on an RBI groundout by Zane Gray and a double error that allowed Mack Susi to score.
Steamboat Petroleum, held hitless through three innings by Bangor’s Kyle Savage, struck for two runs in the fourth and three in the fifth for a 5-2 lead.
Miles Davee hit a leadoff single in the fourth and Jake Arthers was hit by a pitch before Josh Nickerson hit an RBI double down the left-field line. One out later, Arthers scored from third on a foul sacrifice fly just beyond the first-base dugout by Adams.
Arthers also sparked the fifth-inning rally with a two-run single off the base of the left-field fence for coach Emery Shute’s club.
“{Savage] came with a curveball on the first pitch and then left one right in my sweet zone and I went for it,” said Arthers.
Gordon Webb singled home Kyle Vanidestine in the bottom of the inning to draw Bangor within 5-3, but Vanidestine was stranded at third after hitting a one-out triple in the seventh and Miles then retired the last seven batters he faced.
“After [Saturday] we really had a lot of momentum going,” said Davee. “There’s just so much teamwork going on, that’s been the key I think.”
Trenton got a complete-game pitching effort from Caleb Hale in its victory over Brewer.
Hale struck out the side in the first, and while he did not strike out anyone else, he walked just one batter and was backed by solid defense.
“I tried to strike people out at the beginning, but then I realized it was a nine inning game so I went back to what I normally do,” he said.
The Acadians took a 6-1 lead three runs in the fourth and two runs in the fifth.
Nick Saunders hit a two-run double to highlight the fourth-inning rally, while Nate Hines and Peter Dickinson each had an RBI single in the fifth.
Trenton added a run in the sixth before Brewer (19-4) mounted a late rally.
Cam Wadleigh, Mike Kotredes and Caleb Smith had RBI singles during a three-run seventh, and Wadleigh singled home another run in the eighth as the Falcons crept within 7-5.
Smith tripled in the ninth and scored on Rick Adams’ sacrifice fly to cut the gap to one run.
Prentiss Swett followed with a two-out single before Chris Maguire lifted a deep fly to left that Trenton’s Adam Kaspala flagged down in front of the fence to end the game.
“I was hoping it wasn’t going to leave,” said Hale. “The first thing I thought was oh, no, but then I realized we had speed in the outfield and he tracked it down.”
(Sunday’s First Game)
Trenton (16-7) 001 320 100 – 7 12 3
Brewer (19-4) 010 000 310 – 6 14 3
Hale and Marks; Daniels, White (4), Desjardins (8) and Wadleigh
(Sunday’s Second Game)
Steamboat Petro. (15-8) 000 230 000 – 5 7 3
Bangor (16-7) 020 010 000 – 3 4 1
Adams, Miles (5) and Davee; Savage, Casey-Covell (5) and Webb
(Sunday’s Third Game)
Hampden (14-9) 100 030 100 – 5 11 4
Trenton (16-8) 001 000 001 – 2 10 3
Amoroso and Richards; Tweedie and Marks
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