BANGOR- The #5 seeded Bangor Rams plated two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, and held off #8 Edward Little 5-3 Saturday afternoon at Mansfield Stadium in a Class A North Semifinal baseball matchup. The Rams now advance to the regional championship game to play Skowhegan.
The visiting Red Eddies struck first in the top of the second inning. Patrick Anthoine led off with a single to center, and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Chase Martin. With two outs, Will Cassidy hit a fly ball to left center where Bangor left fielder Matt Holmes and centerfielder Connor Prouty collided and the ball dropped to score Anthoine to make it 1-0. Prouty would leave the game and not return. The Rams would respond in the bottom half to take their first lead of the afternoon. Starting pitcher Bradley McLaughlin walked with one out, and Max Clark singled. Colton Trisch also took a walk to load the bases. Bryan Howard singled to center to tie it, and then Luke Missbrenner took a bases loaded walk to give Bangor a 2-1 advantage.
The guests hit the scoreboard again in the top of the third. Jack Keefe walked to start it, and with one out Clay Robbins and Colin Merritt singled to load up the bases. Anthoine tied it with a sacrifice fly to right. The Rams would regain the one run lead in the fourth when Howard singled to right, stole second and third, and then scored on a wild pitch. Anthoine came through again for Edward Little in the fifth with a two out RBI double that scored starting pitcher Campbell Cassidy, who had led off with an infield single to third base. The Eddies had something going in the top of the sixth with one out when W. Cassidy reached on an error and Drew Smith was hit by a pitch. The Rams though got out of it when Keefe hit into an inning ending 5-4-3 doubleplay. Bangor used that momentum to take the lead back for good in the home half of the sixth. Clark doubled to deep left center, and Trisch followed hitting a ball in almost the same spot that went for the game winning RBI triple. Missbrenner knocked in Trisch with one out with a sacrifice fly. The Red Eddies put two men on base in their final at bat in the seventh when Robbins walked with one out and Anthoine singled with two down, but McLaughlin got Martin to fly out to right field to end the game. Edward Little, who had upset the top seed from Oxford Hills in the quarterfinals, ends their season at 11-7.
McLaughlin got the win on the hill pitching a complete game allowing three earned runs on nine hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Howard had two hits, an RBI, and a run scored. Missbrenner reached base twice on two walks, one with the bases loaded and also added the sacrifice RBI flyout. Clark also had two hits and two runs scored, while Trisch had the big RBI triple and a run scored as well. Anthoine had two singles and a double and a run scored for Edward Little in the loss. W. Cassidy, Keefe, C. Cassidy, Robbins, Merritt, and Drew Smith all had one hit each. C. Cassidy got a no decision on the mound allowing three earned runs on three hits with five walks and three strikeouts in 4.0 innings. Alex Avila took the loss in relief allowing two earned runs on three hits in 2.0 innings. Bangor (13-6) is now set to face the #6 seed from Skowhegan (14-5) in the North Regional Title game being held at Morton Field in Augusta on Tuesday at 5 p.m. The Riverhawks upset the #2 seed Lewiston in the semifinals on Saturday.
EWL (11-7) 0 1 1 0 1 0 0- 3 9 0
BAN (13-6) 0 2 0 1 0 2 0- 5 6 2
Winning pitcher- Bradley McLaughlin
Losing pitcher- Alex Avila
Singles- BAN- Howard (2), Holmes (1), Clark (1)/Doubles- Clark (1)/Triples- Trisch (1) Singles- EWL- Anthoine (2), Keefe (1), C. Cassidy (1), Robbins (1), Merritt (1), Smith (1)/Doubles- Anthoine (1), W. Cassidy (1)
Stolen Bases- BAN- Howard (1) EWL- Merritt (1)
Left on base- Edward Little 9, Bangor 5
