SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — The Nova Seafood baseball team managed just four hits in its American Legion state tournament opener last Wednesday.
Since then the defending state champions from Portland have scored virtually at will, the latest chapter coming Sunday afternoon as the Zone 4 representatives eliminated Zone 1 winner Bangor 15-2 in seven innings at Wainwright Field.
“They did everything you’re supposed to do,” said Bangor coach Fred Lower of Nova Seafood, which is now 4-0 in the tournament needs just one more win in two possible games against Smith-Tobey of Bath on Monday to earn a trip to the Northeast Regional that begins Thursday at Manchester, N.H.
“They hit fastballs, they hit curveballs. They hit the gaps, they put it down the line. They went opposite field, they pulled the ball. That’s how you play baseball.”
Nova Seafood, which defeated Smith-Tobey 18-1 earlier in Sunday’s first contest — a battle of the final two unbeatens in the eight-team event — has now scored 60 runs in three seven-inning games since being held somewhat in check during a 6-4 win over Hampden to start the double-elimination tournament.
“After that [Hampden] game we realized people can play with us, so we pretty much kicked it into high gear and started scoring runs and swinging the bats 1 through 9,” said Taylor Candage, who earned the pitching win over Bangor with five shutout innings and also had three singles and two RBIs.
Catcher Matt Watson, one of two Nova Seafood players selected in this year’s Major League Baseball draft, led his team’s 15-hit attack with three doubles, four runs scored and two RBIs.
“We’ve been hitting pretty well all summer long as a team,” said Watson, a Houston Astros draftee who also alked
twice to reach base in all five of his plate appearances. “We’ve had our ups and downs, but overall we’ve been pretty solid.”
Sam Balzano added a three-run inside-the-park home run and an infield single, while Nick Colucci doubled and singled and Seattle Mariners’ draft pick Regan Flaherty contributed an RBI double and a sacrifice fly.
Candage, making his second start of the state tournament, struck out seven and walked no one while yielding just two hits – the first a second-inning single by Joe Stanevicz that broke his aluminum bat in half – before giving way
to lefthander Travis Wade in the bottom of the sixth.
“I kept my curveball down, and I felt a lot better than the last time I pitched [against Hampden],” said Candage. “I was down with my pitches all day so they couldn’t really do much.”
Nova Seafood (21-3) was methodical in its run-producing approach, scoring at least one run in each of the first six innings, including five runs in the top of the third when Balzano hit a drive to center field that just eluded the diving
Stanevicz and bounced to the fence, enabling the speedy No. 9 hitter to race around the bases.
That uprising broke open what had been a close contest, as Bangor righthander Kyle Savage had limited Nova Seafood to single runs in each of the first two innings.
John Cox accounted for Bangor’s only offense with a two-run homer to left in the bottom of the seventh after teammate Jordan Clarke had led off the inning with an infield hit.
“Our kids battled and they competed, right through the last inning,” said Lower, whose team finished 2-2 at the state tournament and 21-7 overall this summer. “I don’t think we backed down at all. We went after them, we threw our pitches, and they hit them.”
Nova Seafood (21-3) 115 242 0 — 15 15 2
Bangor (21-7) 000 000 2 — 2 5 2
Candage, Wade (6) and Watson; Savage, Lewis (3), Wood (7) and Morris
