BANGOR – Bessey Motors fell behind early and never recovered in the opening round of the American Legion state baseball tournament Saturday at Mansfield Stadium.
Slick-hitting Nova Seafood pounded out 14 hits, including two by Jeff Skillin, who also pitched six solid innings, in a 13-3 triumph over Bessey Motors.
Zone III champion Bessey Motors will play this afternoon against the loser of Gardiner and Brewer, which was played late Saturday. Bessey Motors had won the Zone III tournament to reach the state tourney.
The majority of the Bessey team knows how to play under pressure, having won a state championship in high school for Oxford Hills. But Nova, the defending legion national champion, had too many weapons to overcome.
“We fell in a hole,” Bessey Motors coach Shane Slicer said. “Nova isn’t the same team they were last year, but they can still hit the ball, and we knew they would. We stayed within four runs, but then made some mistakes.”
Bessey Motors intentionally walked a batter to get to Skillin in the third. The move backfired as Skillin slapped a two-run single to right. Ryan Piasatini added a two-run single off Bessey starter Corey Tielinin.
Bessey Motors scored single runs in three innings. Andrew Stacy (two hits) doubled home Chris Jennings. Matt McDonnell and Chris Henderson also scored on RBI ground outs by Russell Estes.
“We had runners on base,” Slicer said. “We just didn’t get any timely hits.”
Nova hit several balls in the gaps, including an RBI triple by Chris Burlson.
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