BANGOR – Brennan Perry and the other seniors on the Hampden Academy baseball team had come up empty during four years of varsity competition against Bangor.

But given one final opportunity during their Eastern A quarterfinal at Mansfield Stadium on Thursday, the Broncos ended that streak of futility in dramatic fashion.

Perry pitched a three-hitter, and Hampden scored twice in the sixth inning and three runs in the seventh for a stunning 5-3 victory over the two-time defending regional champions.

“The seniors had never beat Bangor, and I personally had never beat Bangor in high school in any sport,” said Hampden sophomore shortstop Nolan Turner, whose seventh-inning double plated the tying and go-ahead runs. “So beating these guys and making them recognize that we can compete with them is always good.”

Perry struck out seven and walked two in a 110-pitch effort.

“I had my curveball going all day, and they were swinging at it and it was getting called for strikes,” he said.

No. 3 Bangor, with leading hitter Ian Edwards limited to two plate appearances as a DH due to a hamstring injury, went out in 1-2-3 in five innings against the lefthander.

“That might have been the best game Brennan’s ever thrown, certainly against us,” said Bangor coach Jeff Fahey. “And every ball we hit hard, they caught.”

Hampden’s seventh-inning rally began as Caleb Kirk doubled to right. Perry sacrificed pinch-runner Brad Dolan to third before No. 9 hitter Ryan Lindemann worked Bangor righthander Jordan Clarke for a two-out walk to bring up Turner, who already had singled twice and walked.

Turner got ahead in the count, then lined a fastball to the left-center field gap, driving home Dolan and Lindemann to give the Broncos a 4-3 lead.

“I just tried to see it and hit it,” said Turner. “That’s what we’re taught and how our whole team hits. We try to see it and hit it, and to just stay relaxed at the plate.”

Ryan McCluskey then singled to right to score Turner to give the Broncos a two-run cushion and send No. 6 Hampden (12-6) to a semifinal Saturday at No. 2 Cony of Augusta.

“Coming into the game, the guys, myself included, were very confident,” said Hampden coach McLean Poulin. “We ended the season winning six of our last seven games and upset [No. 1] Brewer and [No. 5] Skowhegan during that stretch.

“They knew as long as the hits started to fall, we could win.”

Turner and McCluskey combined for six of Hampden’s nine hits, as Turner had a double and two singles and McCluskey added three singles.

Bangor (12-5) took a 1-0 lead in the first when Kyle Vanidestine singled and scored from first on Ryan Larochelle’s sacrifice that was thrown away.

Bangor made it 3-0 in the fourth when Shane Walton followed a walk to Edwards with a two-run homer to right-center.

“It was a fastball up and in,” said Perry. “He crushed it.”

John Cox then doubled, but he was Bangor’s last baserunner as Perry retired the final 11 batters he faced.

“[Perry] was unreal tonight,” said Poulin. “Even after he gave up that home run, he kept nice and composed. That was by far the best performance I’ve ever seen him throw, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.”

The Broncos’ offense broke through against Clarke in the sixth as Shawn Smith hit an RBI triple to right-center and scored when Josh Tardiff reached on an error.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

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BRONCOS 5, RAMS 3

Hampden Acad. (12-6) Bangor (12-5)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Turner, ss 3 2 3 2 Vanidestine, cf 2 1 0

McCluskey, 2b 4 0 3 1 Larochelle, rf 2 0

Smith, cf 4 1 1 1 Savage, lf 3 0 0

Tardiff, 1b 3 0 0 0 Edwards, dh 1 0 0

Stephens, c 3 0 1 0 Gray, 1b 0 0 0

Kirk, dh 3 0 1 0 Warren, dh 1 1 0

Mourkas, rf 0 0 0 0 Walton, 3b 3 1 2

Dolan, pr 0 1 0 0 Cox, ss 3 0 1 0

Perry, p 2 0 0 0 Clarke, p 3 0 0

Miller, 3b 3 0 0 0 Casey-Covell, p 0 0 0

R. Lindemann, lf 2 1 0 0 McDade, c 3 0

Kelley, 2b 2 0 0 0

Totals 27 5 9 4 Totals 23 3 3 2

Hampden Acad. 000 002 3 – 5

Bangor 100 200 0 – 3

E-Tardiff; Cox; LOB-Hampden 4, Bangor 2; 2B-Turner, Kirk; Cox; 3B-Smith; HR-Walton; DP-Bangor 2; S-Perry; Larochelle

Hampden Acad. IP H R ER BB SO

Perry (W, 4-2) 7 3 3 3 2 7

Bangor IP H R ER BB SO

Clarke (L, 3-2) 6 2/3 9 5 4 2 2

Casey-Covell 1/3 0 0 0 0 1

WP-Perry; Casey-Covell; T-1:39; ATT-300 (est.)