OLD TOWN, Maine — Two baseball teams hoping to use the second half of the season to erase the frustrations of the early going had to settle for a stalemate Thursday.
Mount Desert Island scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to tie Old Town, then added three more runs in the top of the eighth to take the lead.
But the eighth-inning runs were washed out before the inning could be completed by heavy rain and looming darkness, leaving the game to revert to the previously completed inning for a 9-9 tie.
Old Town outhit MDI 14-6 and was the beneficiary of 11 errors by the Trojans, but the Coyotes stranded 12 runners on base as pitchers Peter Logue and Jasper Cousins combined to allow just three earned runs.
Zac Kochis doubled twice for Old Town, while designated hitter Nick Standley doubled and singled and Josh Moul, Nathan Edwards and Tyler Hamm each singled twice.
MDI entered the game having suffered five of its six losses by one-run and the sixth defeat by two runs, but coach Mike Swanson’s club took a 4-1 lead on a grand slam to left field by leadoff hitter Nolan Hall with two outs in the top of the second inning.
But Old Town (1-6-1) rallied to take a 6-4 lead, scoring twice in the third inning and three more runs in the fourth. Kochis had an RBI double in each inning, while Standley added an RBI double to cap off the fourth-inning uprising.
MDI (2-6-1) tied the game in the top of the fifth. Cousins hit a leadoff double, stole third and scored on Taylor Stewart’s ground single up the middle. Stewart advanced as Willie Clark reached on an error, then scored when Devon Young doubled to left-center.
Old Town regained control with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Casey Estes walked, reached third on two MDI errors and scored along with Dan LeBreton on Edwards’ two-run single to right.
Standley, who had reached on a bunt single just before Edwards’ hit, then came around to score on a throwing error to give coach Dave Utterback’s Coyotes a 9-6 lead.
But MDI mustered one last countable rally in the seventh. Cousins was hit by a pitch, the final one thrown by Old Town starter Shane Nadeau, and Clark reached on a one-out error before back-to-back walks to Young and Chris Gridley forced in a run.
After Old Town reliever Casey Estes struck out the next batter, Gordon Falt — the No. 9 hitter in the MDI order — flared an opposite-field single to right field to drive home Clark and Young with the tying runs.
Old Town threatened in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases with one out on a walk to Josh Moul, an infield error that enabled Estes to reach base, and an intentional walk to Kochis.
But Falt, the MDI right fielder, made a diving catch on a sinking liner by LeBreton, and Cousins — who relieved Logue to start the fifth — got Standley to hit into a fielder’s choice grounder that forced Kochis out at second base to end the inning.
Nadeau, a sophomore righthander, pitched fairly effectively after yielding the grand slam to Hall, limiting MDI to one earned run over the next 4¤ innings before leaving in the seventh.
