BANGOR, Maine — The Bangor baseball team used a fast start to edge defending Eastern Maine Class A champion Cony of Augusta 4-2 in a midseason battle of unbeatens at Mansfield Stadium on Friday afternoon.
Bangor’s first three batters of the game all scored to give the Rams a 3-0 first-inning lead, and pitchers Joe Stanevicz and Kyle Savage made that stand up by combining on a six-hitter.
Stanevicz also paced Bangor’s 11-hit offense with three singles, while shortstop Cody McInnis doubled and singled.
“We had this game circled on the calendar ever since last year,” said McInnis. “We wanted to play Cony, and we weren’t nervous, we came out ready to play.”
The win leaves Bangor at 8-0 and atop the Eastern A standings at the midpoint of its schedule. Cony dips to 5-1.
“We knew coming in it was going to be a big game because they’re good,” said Stanevicz, a junior lefthander who struck out seven and walked four in 5¤ innings, “but the first inning set us going in a good direction, and it gave me a lot of confidence on the mound.”
Lonnie Hackett opened the Bangor first with a fly to right off Cony ace Ryan Minoty that sailed just beyond the reach of outfielder Charlie Partridge for a triple, and he scored when McInnis drove a 2-2 pitch to left for an RBI double.
Stanevicz singled to right to score McInnis, and after Minoty walked the bases loaded with one out, Adam King hit an RBI single off the glove of Cony left fielder Mike Poulin to give Bangor a three-run lead.
“Charlie lost that first ball in the sun, otherwise it’s one pitch, one out and we’re probably looking at a different situation there,” said Cony coach Don Plourde. “But they made the most of their opportunity.”
Minoty continued to get behind on counts as the game continued, but escaped further damage by stranding eight Bangor runners over his five innings of work.
Stanevicz, meanwhile, kept Cony’s batters off-balance with a mix of fastballs and curves during a 94-pitch performance that improved his record to 3-0.
“We actually thought if we could get a couple of runs for Joe that they’d have trouble with him, and they really didn’t handle him,” said Bangor coach Jeff Fahey.
Colin McKee led off the Cony third with a walk, but was victimized by the defensive play of the game when McInnis ranged far to his left to field Jake LaChance’s grounder just to the right of second base. He flipped the ball back to second baseman Jack Stacey, who quickly pivoted and threw to first to complete the double play.
“That’s all Jack,” said McInnis, “because all I had to do was make a flip and Jack had to spin around and make an incredible play.”
Cony finally broke through in the sixth. Stanevicz sandwiched walks to Jason Burns and Corey LaPierre around a strikeout before Nick Lucas lined an RBI single to center.
Fahey then turned to senior righty Savage for his first relief appearance, and while a fielder’s choice grounder by Tyler Rodrigue produced a run, Savage escaped the jam without further harm and then retired the side in order in the seventh for his first save.
“We were extremely happy with the way Kyle pitched,” Fahey said. “For a kid who always has been a starter, this was a new role for him and he went in and did a great job.”
Bangor added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when McInnis reached on a fielder’s choice, moved to second on a single by Stanevicz and then scored on a single to right-center by Devin Lyshon.
