BELFAST – If there was one man Bangor West Little League All-Star Coach Mike Brooker wanted to see up at the plate with two outs and the winning run in scoring position, it was Dennis McGrath.

And it’s easy to see why.

McGrath, whose seventh-inning single helped Bangor West win on Monday, delivered Jeremy Karam with a two-out single in the sixth inning to give Bangor West an exciting 4-3 victory over Waldo County at Mollison Field here Thursday.

Bangor West, now 2-0, advanced into Saturday’s 10 a.m. championship round and will play the winner of Friday’s 5 p.m. game between once-beaten Auburn Suburban and Waldo County. Due to a rainy forecast, Saturday’s game has been moved up to 10 a.m. and a final game would follow if necessary.

“If Dennis doesn’t get any hits in his first two or three at-bats, I like to see him up the fourth time,” said Brooker. “You know he’s going to come through.”

Brooker said he also liked the fact that Karam was on second “because he’s our fastest runner.

“I had a lot of confidence in Dennis. He’s been our top hitter all year,” said Karam, who slid between the legs of Waldo County catcher Ben Preston, who took the throw from center fielder Adam Moore a little bit late.

McGrath grounded a 1-1 pitch from hard-luck loser Paul Rybarczyk up the middle and the ball took a tricky hop off the body of Moore, who made a strong throw to the plate.

McGrath had struck out twice and hit into a fielder’s choice in his previous three at-bats and had been fooled by a steady dose of Rybarczyk curves. But he didn’t see any curves in his last at-bat.

“I expected curves but he just threw as hard as he could,” said McGrath. “I knew if I got a hit, we’d win the game. He threw me a perfect pitch to hit, it was right down the middle.”

Dan McCarty had opened the sixth inning by reaching when shortstop Matt Darres dropped his popup in short left field.

He was sacrificed to second by Josh Johnson but McCarty was thrown out at the plate when Karam doubled into right center. McCarty had hesitated twice, between second and third and between third and home, and was gunned out by Rybarczyk. Rybarczyk had cut off the throw from Moore.

Waldo County had rallied dramatically to tie the game in the top of the sixth on singles by Darres and Nate Drummond; a passed ball and Nate Hall’s looping two-out, two-run single to left center. On the play, Preston, who had been walked intentionally, was tagged out between third and home by pitcher Karam, who took the throw from center fielder McGrath.

Bangor West took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on Federico Alzerreca’s opposite-field homer to right center; singles by Willy Sargent and McCarty, a wild pitch and Karam’s sacrifice fly to second baseman Bobby Mitchell.

Waldo County got one back in the third on Preston’s base hit, a fielder’s choice and Rybarczyk’s run-scoring fielder’s choice.

Bangor West got that run back in the bottom of the third on Jason Lewis’ single, an outfield error on the hit and Derek Damon’s RBI line-drive single to center.

Lefty Karam went the distance for the win, overcoming his wildness to pitch a six-hitter. He fanned nine and walked seven. while throwing 66 strikes among his 121 pitches. He pitched out of a bases-loaded-nobody-out jam in the first inning and stranded 10 runners over the course of the game.

“I didn’t pitch one of my best games. But our defense is real good so when I got in trouble, I settled down and just tried to throw strikes (and let them make the plays),” said the 11-year-old Karam.

“He threw well and we hit the ball hard right at people a few times,” said Waldo County Coach Fred Littlefield.

Karam went three-for-three and Sargent had two singles for Bangor West while Preston went two-for-two for Waldo County. Rybarczyk hurled a strong 10-hit game with nine strikeouts and three walks.

Bangor West 4, Waldo 3

(First Game)

Waldo County Bangor West

Name ab r h bi Name ab r h bi

Cox, rf 4 0 1 0 Karam, p 3 1 3 1

Mitchell, 2b 2 0 0 0 McGrath, cf 3 0 1 1

VanOesen, 2b 0 0 0 0 Lewis, 3b 1 1 1 0

Preston, c 2 1 2 0 Damon, ss 3 0 1 1

Hall, 1b 4 0 1 2 Utterback, 1b 2 0 0 0

Block, 1b 0 0 0 0 Alzerreca, c 3 1 1 1

Rybarczyk, p 3 0 0 1 Sargent, rf 3 1 2 0

Damon, lf 3 0 0 0 McCarty, lf 3 0 1 0

Geagan, lf 0 0 0 0 Brooker, 2b 2 0 0 0

Moore, cf 0 0 0 0 a-Johnson 0 0 0 0

Darres, ss 3 1 1 0

b-Purinton 0 0 0 0

Abbott, 3b 0 0 0 0

Drummond, 3b 2 1 1 0

Totals 23 3 6 3 Totals 23 4 10 4

a-sacrificed for Brooker in 6th

b-was at bat for Darres when runner was caught stealing in

5th

Waldo County 001 002 – 3

Bangor West 021 001 – 4

E – Brooker, Cox, Preston, Darres, Utterback 2B – Karam HR – Alzerreca LOB – Waldo County 10, Bangor West 8 SB – Moore S – Johnson SF – Karam

Pitching Summary

PITCHER IP H R ER BB SO

Waldo County

Rybarczyk (L) 5 2/3 10 4 3 3 9

Bangor West

Karam (W) 6 6 3 3 7 9

HBP – Mitchell (by Karam) WP – Karam, Rybarczyk 2 PB – Alzerreca TIME -2:28

(Second Game) East Biddeford 010 010 – 2 6 2 Auburn-Suburban 000 04x – 4 3 0

Parisien, Gregoire (5) and Bernier; Dumais and Andrews