OAKLAND, Maine — One of the most inviting aspects of the Messalonskee High School baseball field also be one of the most damaging for opposing hitters — the cozy dimensions down the left- and right-field lines.
“We notice it, unfortunately,” said Bangor outfielder Kyle Savage. “During BP [batting practice] we were trying to jack it out, and that’s the worst thing that could happen because in the game we want to hit line drives and when we try to hit it out we wind up popping out.”
Fortunately for Bangor, that wasn’t always the case Friday afternoon, as Savage and teammate Adam King hit back-to-back home runs in the third inning to propel the undefeated Rams to an 8-5 victory over the stubborn Eagles.
Savage’s three-run shot and King’s solo homer erased not only a 2-0 Messalonskee lead, but also much of the confidence the Eagles carried onto a home field where they had been 6-0 this spring.
“The first home run was a momentum booster,” said Bangor junior lefthander Joe Stanevicz, who pitched into the seventh inning to improve his record to 5-0. “Then Adam hitting one back-to-back was icing on the cake. That really settled us down.”
The win improved Bangor, top-ranked in Eastern Maine Class A, to 13-0, while Messalonskee fell to 7-5.
Messalonskee righthander Nate Veilleux held Bangor scoreless through two innings despite three early walks, but the Rams were able to break through during their second time around the batting order.
Cody McInnis led off the Bangor third with a walk, then Veilleux retired the next two batters before Nate Lewis walked to bring up Savage, who drove a 1-1 curveball just to the right of the 375-foot sign on the fence in center field to give Bangor a sudden 3-2 lead.
“I was just looking for a little gap shot, something to get some runs home,” he said.
The hit also provided a measure of redemption for Savage, who had struck out looking with the bases loaded to end the top of the first.
“I was pretty angry at Kyle for not even swinging the bat with the bases loaded in the first inning,” said Bangor coach Jeff Fahey, “and then I got on him for what I thought was not hustling out onto the field.
“So when he came up in the third I think he was a little upset with himself. He’s been hitting the ball well and he got a good pitch and hit it.”
King then worked Veilleux to a full count before pulling his homer to right.
“I was speechless, that’s probably the best feeling I’ve had in a while,” he said.
Messalonskee rallied within 4-3 on Dylan Foster’s RBI single in the fourth, but the Eagles were left to play from behind the rest of the way as Stanevicz retired the next seven batters he faced while Bangor stretched its lead to 8-3.
“I think [the home runs] took a lot of the wind out of the sails for us,” said Messalonskee coach Ray Bernier. “Any time you can get ahead of Bangor you kind of want to keep it there, but when they came back ahead it kind of brought us down.”
King finished with three hits for Bangor, while Savage had two hits and four RBIs in support of Stanevicz, who allowed three earned runs on three hits with five strikeouts and three walks before giving way to Jesse Wood in the seventh.
Stanevicz and Dylan Morris each added an RBI single for the Rams, while McInnis scored twice and stole two bases and Jack Stacey plated a run with a sacrifice fly.
Foster led Messalonskee with a double, single and two runs scored, while Cale Knox drove home two runs for the Eagles.
