The confident Zone II runner-up
gets the chance to avenge its lone loss in the tourney today against highly-regarded Nova Seafood.
AUGUSTA – Monmouth Post 204 rests squarely in the security of two earnest convictions.
1. Nobody else in the American Legion Baseball state tournament seems all that scary.
2. Anybody in its bullish batting order is capable of belting the ball around the Capital Area Recreation facility ballparks.
The all-star team of students from Oak Hill, Maranacook, Monmouth, Winthrop and Kents Hill will get at least one more day to prove those points after outlasting Brewer, 12-5, in an elimination game Tuesday afternoon at Morton Field.
“We believe we can beat any team in this tournament,” said Mike Buckley, who allowed three hits and one run in three innings to pick up the pitching victory in relief of Pat Duchette.
Adam Shaffstall and Seth Emery homered for Monmouth, which today will face Nova Seafood of Portland’s north side for the second time in the tourney.
Defending champion Nova knocked Monmouth into the loser’s bracket with a 9-1 verdict Sunday, the opening day of the tournament.
“We wanted to see Nova in the first game,” Shaffstall said. “We wanted to play the best and see what they had. Now we have a chance to come back strong.”
“A lot of people probably look at our 9-1 loss as one-sided, but in reality it was really zero-zero for six innings,” noted Buckley.
The rematch wasn’t a foregone conclusion until Brewer (26-3) faded in the late innings.
Monmouth (22-7) trailed 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth before Josh Stroup slapped an RBI single down the right field line to push home Emery.
After Duchette drew a walk from Brewer starter Andrew Patterson, the Falcons called upon Adam Sheehan to take the mound and face Shaffstall.
The slugger from reigning Class B champion Oak Hill promptly ripped a 335-foot blast to left for a 5-2 lead.
“We knew one of us was going to get one,” said Shaffstall. “Anyone on this team can do that. Somebody might not have it one day, and another day they just crunch it.”
Buckley received five additional insurance runs at the expense of two more Brewer relievers in the seventh. Emery (3-for-4) and Stroup (3-for-5) each drove in a run. Duchette dropped in a two-run single, and Shaffstall picked up his fourth RBI on a sacrifice fly.
Stroup added an RBI double in the eighth.
Chris Hinkley pitched the ninth for Monmouth.
Duchette scattered five hits through the first five frames, surrendering sacrifice flies by Kevin McAvoy in the first inning and Kyle Mercer in the second. Buckley’s lone miscue came with an 11-2 lead when he surrendered a gopher ball to Kevin Kotredes.
“Once we got the lead, I was able to start throwing a lot more fastballs for strikes to get ahead in the count,” said Buckley. “You don’t want to walk anybody in that situation.”
Buckley’s longtime Maranacook teammate, Emery, ripped his homer over the 15-foot-high gray wall in right in the bottom of the first.
koakes@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.