ORONO – Bangor High School junior varsity pitcher Derrick Shain hasn’t pitched much in his first American Legion baseball season. Coming into the opening game of the Zone 1 Invitational, Shain didn’t even have a decision.

Early on, it appeared Shain’s first decision might be a loss, but he settled down after a rocky first inning and threw five solid innings to help the Bangor Comrades post a 9-4 win over South Kingstown, Rhode Island at Mahaney Diamond Friday.

The late afternoon weather mirrored South Kingstown’s Post 39 team as it began hot and sunny before quickly turning nippy and overcast.

South Kingstown scored twice in the top of the first after leadoff man Adam Bernier reached on an error and Chris Rose followed with a single. A groundout later, Bernier scored on a dropped third strike which allowed Kevin Maguire to reach base. Rose then scored on a groundout.

Bangor halved the deficit in the second on Joe Vanidestine’s two-out, bloop single to right center, off starter Eric Zubee, but SK got the run back in the third as Joe Little drew a bases-loaded walk.

But as Shain got used to Mahaney’s steeper mound, he became harder and harder to hit.

“The mound was a little different,” said Shain, who allowed five hits, four runs (one earned) and four walks. “It’s a sharper angle down so a lot of my balls were going in the dirt early on but my curveball was working good and I started throwing strikes.”

Meanwhile, a smoldering Bangor offense was on fire in the third as the Comrades sent nine batters to the plate and scored five runs.

After two straight walks loaded the bases with two outs, Travis Brooker flared a two-run single to shallow right center. After another walk reloaded the bases, Vanidestine cleared them with a double down the right field line.

“Once we all saw the guy the first time, we seemed to be a lot more confident. We were anxious to get up again,” said Vanidestine.

Bangor added a run in the fifth on a Sullivan double and Brooker single, and then two more in the sixth on back-to-back, one-out walks and Jim Shea’s two-run double to left center.

The visitors also had a run in the fifth on Maguire’s leadoff double, a fielder’s choice, and an error.

South Kingstown coach Mark Hutchins said the team was a bit dead on its feet after a long drive.

“We left at six this morning and I was waking guys up when we got here around 2:30,” he explained Hutchins, whose team is 10-3-1 after a six-game win streak. “I found out one thing, if we end up in New Englands, there’s no way in hell I’m coming the day we’re playing. We’ll come the day before.”

Despite the bus lag, Hutchins said he enjoys these tournaments.

“You can get a lot more players into games you normally wouldn’t be able to. Another thing we find is it brings the team together, especially when they’re on the road,” Hutchins said. “It helps you measure yourself against other teams you don’t see all the time and it also gives me a chance to scout some other teams a little in case we meet up again in regionals.”

The three-day tourney involves two fields (Mahaney and Brewer’s Heddericg) and eight teams from Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Prince Edward Island, and Fredericton (New Brunswick).

Comrades 9, South Kingstown 4

South Kingstown, R.I. Bangor

Name ab r h bi Name ab r h bi

Bernier, 2b 2 1 0 0 Bombardier, ss 3 1 0 0

Costello, 2b 1 0 0 0 Johnson, 3b 2 2 2 0

Rose, ss 4 2 2 0 Shea, 2b 4 0 1 2

McGill, c 2 0 0 0 Bouchard, c 3 1 1 0

Gomes, c 1 0 1 0 Sullivan, lf 2 2 2 0

Maguire, dh 4 1 2 0 Brooker, 1b 3 1 2 3

Little, 1b 2 0 0 2 Strout, dh 2 2 0 0

Bernardo, lf 2 0 0 0 Vanidestine,lf 3 0 2 4

Hawkins, lf 2 0 0 0 Worcester, cf 3 0 0 0

Eaton, rf 3 0 0 0

a-Perry 1 0 0 0

Maggs, 3b 2 0 0 0

Smith, 3b 0 0 0 0

Page, cf 2 0 1 0

Totals 28 4 6 2 Totals 25 9 10 9

a-flied out for Eaton in seventh

South Kingstown 201 010 0 – 4

Bangor 015 012 x – 9

E – Johnson, Shea 2B – Maguire; Johnson, Shea, Sullivan LOB – South Kingstown 9; Bangor 5 DP – Sullivan-Bouchard SB – Strout, Vanidestine, Johnson, Sullivan

PITCHER IP H R ER BB SO

South Kingstown

Zubee (L) 2 2/3 4 4 4 2 2

McGrew 3 1/3 6 5 5 5 6

Bangor

Shain (W) 5 5 4 1 4 4

Dionne 2 1 0 0 0 2

HBP – Little by Shain WP – McGrew PB – Gomes; Bouchard TIME – 2:19 ATTENDANCE – 137