SOUTH PARIS – It was a day filled with the unexpected when Bessey Motors hosted Mid-Coast in a Zone 3 American Legion doubleheader Saturday.

The two teams split, with Bessey taking the first game with a 5-3 victory, but Mid-Coast rebounded with a 10-4 win in Game 2.

Game 1 featured a rematch of the Eastern Maine Class A regional championship as Joe Baker took the mound for Bessey Motors against the hard-throwing Mark Rogers on the hill for Mid-Coast.

Rogers won the battle just over a week ago to advance Mt. Ararat to the state championship, but after pitching the last four games during the Eagles’ season, the wear and tear on his arm was evident. His usual 94-mph fastball was missing something. Rogers did not last beyond the second inning for Mid-Coast as he left the game with a 2-1 deficit after two innings.

“I was hoping he would go all the way, and I was hoping he would come out and dominate like he did the last two times he faced this team,” Mid-Coast coach Walt Foster said. “He’s had a lot of pressure on him all season with high school baseball. So I think he might be worn down a little bit, especially after the state game on Monday. I think he needs a little break; he’s probably baseballed out. He said he was struggling, but Andy Cantrell came in and did a nice job.”

Cantrell surrendered one run through the next three innings and kept Bessey Motors in check long enough for the Mid-Coast offense to tie it up. In the top of the fifth inning, Pierce Wiegman led the inning with a single to right field and Rogers followed him by slapping a grounder to third base. But an error on the throw by the third baseman left Rogers on first and Wiegman on second. John Tefft cracked a single to left field, scoring the speedy Wiegman from second. Anthony Ames smacked a sacrifice fly to center field that drove in Rogers.

In the bottom of the sixth, two consecutive walks to start the inning caused Cantrell’s exit from the mound. Justin Clark entered in relief, but a sacrifice bunt by Andrew Stacy would advance the two baserunners. Chris Jennings stepped to the plate for Bessey Motors and ripped a one-out single to left field to drive in both base runners to give Bessey a 5-3 lead.

“That was a clutch it by Chris Jennings. That’s a big at bat for a freshmen to come up and deliver like that,” Bessey Motors coach Shane Slicer said.

That was all the run support Joe Baker needed as he finished off the complete game in the seventh inning by striking out Anthony Ames.

In Game 2, Mid-Coast shook off the loss in the first game, but it took sometime.

In the top of the fourth, Wiegman again led off the inning with a single to left field. Rogers followed with a shot to left field of his own, scoring Wiegman all the way from first. After a sacrifice bunt by John Tefft advanced Rogers to second, a base knock by Anthony Ames put Rogers across the plate to give Mid-Coast a 2-0 lead.

Bessey Motors responded in the bottom half of the inning when Garrett Olson led off the inning with a triple. Chris Henderson popped up to left field, but Olson tagged up and crossed the plate to get Bessey on the scoreboard.

In the bottom of the fifth, Bessey Motors took its first lead of the second game. Jennings reached first when Mid-Coast’s first baseman had his foot slip off the bag when he retrieved a throw for the shortstop. Bradley Flanders drew a walk to get runners on first and second. Kyle Keniston and Garrett Olson followed with a base hit a piece to score Jennings and Flanders and Bessey Motors lead 3-2

That lead wouldn’t last long Mid-Coast drew two walks and record three hits that resulted in three runs to take a 5-3 lead in the sixth inning

After Bessey was unable to answer, Mid-Coast’s offense erupted in the last inning. Four hits, one walk, and a catcher interference call allowed five more runs to cross the plate in the top of the seventh inning to give Mid-Coast a 10-3 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh with one out, Mid-Coast’s Ames was belted in the cheek with a ball off Andrew Stacy’s bat. Stacy stood on first as Ames was escorted off the field and taken to a hospital.

“He had blood inside his mouth and he had a baseball sized welt on his lower jaw that is black and blue already and he’ll most likely need stitches,” Foster said.

A pass ball and Garrett Olson’s fourth hit of the game pushed Stacy to home plate. But Bessey’s offense was unable to get anything else going against Mid-Coast reliever Justin Clark.

“It’s always tough in a double-header in this heat to win twice. Their pitcher pitched well, and we were missing some good bats in our lineup from the first game, so we didn’t have a very strong productive lineup in the second game,” Slicer said.