STANDISH – Thank goodness for double elimination.
Actually, once you get past the bottom line of Bangor’s 15-1 battering of New Auburn in the American Legion Baseball state tournament Sunday, staring at the silver linings might be enough to cure Post 153’s collective headache.
For starters, New Auburn isn’t done. Day one’s dispatching of Madison ensured that.
“Could you not put this in the paper?” NAL losing pitcher and acknowledged ace Brady Blackman asked with a knowing smirk after the encore ended.
Can’t ignore it, but we can try a little spin.
Zone 1 runner-up Bangor knocked New Auburn out of commission so early that manager Bob Blackman was able (or maybe compelled) to rescue his son after only 2 2/3 innings.
The University of Southern Maine right-hander wound up responsible for eight runs in Bangor’s 11-0 breeze through the top of the fourth.
“We got Brady out of there early enough that he can give us a few innings tomorrow,” Bob Blackman said.
Tomorrow meaning today, when New Auburn meets Zone 3 rival Bessey Motors in a 3 p.m. elimination game. New Auburn notched two of its three regular-season battles with Bessey en route to the zone title.
Bangor outhit New Auburn, 14-4, and took advantage of four errors.
Tom Crews went 4-for-4 and scored three runs for the Comrades. Gordon Webb was 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Shane Walton and Scott Hackett hammered out two hits apiece.
Walton whacked an RBI triple and later scampered home with his first of three runs on the afternoon to make it 2-0 in the first. He doubled in the second, when Bangor increased its margin to 4-0.
“There really aren’t any easy outs in that lineup,” said Bob Blackman.
The big innings kept coming. Bangor tacked on two runs in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth frames, applying the exclamation point to a winner’s bracket would-be showdown that mercifully ended after seven.
Corey Larue and Kyle Bussiere each walked to set the table for New Auburn’s lone run in the fourth. Larue advanced home after an errant throw on a double steal.
Adam Lutz, Kevin Smith, Tyler Dorris and Devin Flynn each delivered a single for New Auburn. Adam Redmun and Mike Muise saw mop-up duty on the mound.
“We’re got to regroup. Now we play against our own zone,” coach Blackman said. “That’s a little different, but we’ll be ready to go after it.”
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