BREWER – Many of the players are new, but little has changed in the high school baseball rivalry between Bangor and Brewer as the 2006 season opened Wednesday.

Low-scoring, closely contested games have been the norm in recent years, and their first meeting this spring was no different, as Bangor used the pitching of right-handers Jim Cox and Kyle Leeman and a four-run uprising in the fifth inning to rally for a 5-3 victory at wind-blown Heddericg Field.

“They’re one of our biggest rivals,” said Cox, “and we know they’re going to be some of our biggest competition in the KVAC, so it’s good to get a win over them to start the season.”

Cox yielded just six singles over 5 2/3 innings while striking out seven and walking three – including the last two batters he faced before giving way to Leeman, who did not allow a hit in earning the save.

“Jimmy threw strikes pretty much the whole game,” said Bangor coach Jeff Fahey. “Especially in the middle innings, he threw very well.”

Brewer got its own solid pitching effort from righty Evan Economy, who scattered 10 hits while walking one and striking out four over six innings but was victimized by a Bangor rally that began amid modest circumstances – with a pair of infield grounders.

Gordon Webb singled to the shortstop hole to open the Bangor fifth, then went to second as Alex Gallant reached on an infield error.

Josh Seeley followed with a blast through the wind to center for an RBI double that pulled Bangor within 3-2. Gallant scored the tying run on a wild pitch, and Shane Walton’s sacrifice fly plated Seeley with the lead run.

Tom Crews drew a two-out walk and scored the final run on back-to-back singles by Ryan Jones and Kyle Vanidestine.

“Evan really pitched a game we could have won,” said Brewer coach David Morris. “But when you give a good team like Bangor an inning like we did when we should have had three quick outs but didn’t make routine plays … instead we gave them eight batters and they scored a bunch of runs.”

Webb and Seeley each doubled and singled to pace Bangor’s offense, while Vanidestine and Gallant each singled twice.

“Up and down the lineup we hit the ball well,” said Fahey.

Bangor took a 1-0 lead with a two-out rally in the first. Webb doubled, went to third on an infield hit by Gallant and scored when Seeley grounded a single to left.

Brewer reached Cox for its three runs in the second. Corey Cushing drew a one out walk, the first of five straight Witches to reach base. Brandon Hardy then popped a single to right-center, and Economy reached on a spinning grounder that eluded Bangor shortstop Ben Estabrook to load the bases.

Mitchell Peasley singled home Cushing and Hardy, and after a walk to Shun Sasaki the Witches scored their final run on Caleb Smith’s sacrifice fly. The bases remained loaded as Smith’s fly ball was dropped, but Cox struck out Ricky Adams and got Brad Brown to fly to left to end the inning.

“In that situation I thought we had [Cox] on the ropes,” Morris said. “Even though we scored three runs off him, had we had a little more offensive punch we could have knocked him out, but he did a good job.”

From there Cox settled down, allowing no more than four Brewer batters in an inning until the sixth, thanks in part to a Bangor defense that did not commit an error over the game’s final five innings.

Adapting to the wind was one key to that success, Cox said.

“On the mound you could feel the wind at your back,” said Cox. “It’s good for the fastball, but I had to adjust for the curveball a lot more. I felt like after the first couple of innings I adjusted and pitched better.”

RAMS 5, WITCHES 3

Bangor (1-0) Brewer (0-1)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Vanidestine, rf 3 0 2 1 Smith, lf 3 1

Hackett, 1b 4 0 0 0 Adams, ss 4 0 0

Webb, c 4 2 2 0 Brown, 1b 4 0 0

Gallant, lf 4 1 2 0 Swett, 3b 3 0 0

Seeley, dh 4 1 2 2 Cushing, 2b 3 1 0

Walton, 3b 3 0 0 1 Hardy, dh 3 1 0

Leeman, p 0 0 0 0 Nicknair, cf-p 0 0 0

Estabrook, ss 4 0 1 0 Economy, p-cf 2 0

Crews, cf 2 1 0 0 Peasley, c 2 0 2

Edwards, ph 1 0 0 0 Sasaki, rf 1 0 0

Jones, 2b 3 0 1 0

Totals 32 5 10 4 Totals 25 3 6 3

Bangor 100 040 0 – 5

Brewer 030 000 0 – 3

E-Crews; Swett 2, Cushing, Adams; LOB-Bangor 9, Brewer 8; 2B-Webb, Seeley; DP-Walton-Jones-Hackett; SF-Walton; Smith; SB-Gallant 2

Bangor IP H R ER BB SO

Cox (W,1-0) 5 2/3 6 3 3 3 7

Leeman (S,1) 1 1/3 0 0 0 1 2

Brewer IP H R ER BB SO

Economy (L,0-1) 6 10 5 3 1 4

Nicknair 1 0 0 0 0 1

HBP-Vanidestine (by Economy); Sasaki (by Cox), Swett (by Leeman); WP-Cox, Leeman; Economy; T-1:59; ATT-75 (est.)