OAKLAND, Maine — Little separated Messalonskee and Bangor on the baseball diamond here Saturday afternoon.
In the end, it was the Eagles’ clutch hitting — and the home-field advantage — that helped them prevail.
Dylan Foster’s bad-hop single capped a three-run, fifth-inning rally as top-seeded Messalonskee eked out a 4-3 Eastern Maine Class A baseball semifinal victory over No. 4 Bangor.
“The kids gutted it out and they managed to finish it,” said Messalonskee coach Ray Bernier. “They always kept coming back, believing that they could win.”
The Eagles (14-4) face No. 3 Cony of Augusta in Wednesday’s regional title game at Morton Field in Augusta.
Fourth-seeded Bangor closes out the season at 14-4.
Bangor had enough hits and baserunners, but didn’t come through in key situations. The Rams stranded 11 baserunners and went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
“We just couldn’t get the game-breaker when we had the opportunities to do it,” said Bangor coach Jeff Fahey.
“I thought we played well,” he added. “It’s a tough place to play and we played down there three times in the last 12 days.”
Messalonskee also struggled to produce runs. The hosts left 11 runners on base, but did manage three timely hits.
The Eagles also played outstanding defense, including two gems by starting pitcher Matt Stuart after he was moved to third base. His diving stab of a hot Chad Kelley grounder inside the bag left the bases loaded in the fifth.
“Thankfully on our end we played the defense that we can play,” Bernier said. “It was a well-played game on both sides.”
Messalonskee responded in the fifth after Bangor scored twice in the top of the inning to take a 3-1 lead.
With one out, Patrick Wrigley singled inside first, then Joe Dumont narrowly beat out a chopper to shortstop. Rams starter Kyle Savage induced a popout, but Brandon Hall lined an RBI single to center field.
“We stranded a lot, but toward the end there we were finding ways to get them in,” said Hall, a senior catcher.
“We always have a big crowd here and they’re always behind us. I like the atmosphere a lot.”
Pinch hitter Cam Ray followed with a swinging-bunt single along the third-base line that loaded the bases. Foster followed with a grounder toward the middle that bounded over the head of shortstop Cody McInnis — who appeared to have a force play at second base that would have ended the inning — to plate the eventual ty-ing and winning runs.
“That possibly could have been the deciding play,” Fahey said. “[If McInnis fields the ball], worst-case scenario, they score one and not two.”
Reliever Nate Lewis came on to get the final out.
Wrigley and Nick Booth combined to work 2¤ innings of one-hit, scoreless relief to preserve the Eagles’ victory.
Hall led Messalonskee with three hits, including a run-scoring double in the second inning. Sam Dexter added two singles among the hosts’ 12 hits.
Savage worked around constant trouble — and illness — until being lifted in the fifth. He stranded eight baserunners through the first four innings.
Savage paced the Bangor offense as he walked and scored on Mack Susi’s single in the second, singled in the fourth and doubled home two runs in the fifth after McInnis doubled and Lewis walked.
McInnis also singled and scored for the Rams, who lose nine seniors.
“No one thought we’d be there this year,” Fahey said. “The kids really played hard.”