BANGOR, Maine — San Nicolas, Aruba, ended host Bangor’s magical run at the Senior League World Series, riding the five-hit pitching of Shawn Duinkerk to an 8-1 win over the Maine District 3 representatives in the world championship game before 3,000 fans at Mansfield Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The title was the first at the Senior League level for Aruba, which like Bangor also was part of the tournament’s 2009 field.
Duinkerk, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound righthander, struck out five batters and walked just two during an economical 78-pitch performance.
And when Bangor mounted its lone offensive threat by loading the bases with no one out in the fifth inning on a walk to Dylan Morris and singles by Josiah Hartley and Nic Cota, Duinkirk’s defense backed him up.
Second baseman Jiandido Tromp drifted into shallow right field to haul down a soft liner by Seth Freudenberger, then shortstop Ray-Patrick Didier fielded a grounder by Cody Savage to set up a force play at second base.
Morris scored on the play to cut Bangor’s deficit to 3-1, but Duinkerk escaped further damage by striking out Luke Hetterman for the final out of the inning.
Aruba, 5-1 in tournament play, then broke the game open with five runs in the top of the seventh, the rally highlighted by a two-run double to left by Juan Carlos Moncio and a two-run homer to left by Chadwick Tromp.
Aruba jumped on Savage, the Bangor starter, for three runs on four hits in the top of the first. Duinkerk provided the big blow of the uprising, a one-out, two-run double to the left-center field gap.
Savage settled down after that, holding Aruba scoreless on three hits during the rest of his six-inning sting. Savage finished allowing seven hits and three runs while striking out two and walking two before giving way to Hartley in the seventh.
But Duinkerk was better, his pitch count kept down by a five-pitch third inning and a four-pitch fourth that helped him stay well under the Senior League single-game limit of 95 pitches.
And when Bangor got runners aboard, the Aruba defense played flawlessly and turned three double plays, the last one to end the game after Hartley had hit a one-out single in the bottom of the seventh.
Duinkerk paced Aruba’s nine-hit offense with a double, single and three RBIs, while Hartley singled twice for Bangor, which finished the tournament with a 4-2 record after never winning more than one game in any of its previous trips to the SLWS.
Click here for all the stories and scores in the series. Bangor was 4-2 in the series; Aruba 5-1.
Final: Aruba 8, Bangor 1
Seventh Inning
Aruba: 1 walk, 1 error, two run double, two run HR, five runs
Bangor: 1 hit, no runs
Score: Aruba 8, Bangor 1
Josiah Hartley replaces Cody Savage to pitch for Bangor
An unusually quick game has pushed Bangor to its final inning and a chance to make history as the winning host team.
Sixth Inning
Aruba: Lead off walk, no hits, no runs
Bangor: No runs, no hits
Score: Aruba 3, Bangor 1
Bangor had its first chance of the game to rally; instead Duinkerk threw hard and worked his way out of bases loaded and no outs, giving up a single run.
Fifth Inning
Aruba: No hits, walk caught stealing
Bangor: 2 hits, 1 walk,
Score: Aruba 3, Bangor 1
After a rocky first inning, Bangor pitcher Cody Savage settled in and has pitched superbly, keeping a speedy Aruba team off the bases.
Aruba’s pitcher Shawn Duinkerk has pitched a minimum of pitchers, with Bangor unable to build any sort of rally so far. Duinkerk’s last six outs have taken nine pitches.
Fourth Inning
Aruba: No hits
Bangor: No hits
Score: Aruba 3, Bangor 0
Third Inning
Aruba: 1 hit, no runs
Bangor: 1 hit, no runs
Score: Aruba 3, Bangor 0
Second Inning
Aruba: 2 hits, no runs, no errors, 2 left on base
Bangor: No runs, no hits
Score: Aruba 3, Bangor 0
First Inning
Top: Cody Savage pitching for Bangor
Aruba gets three runs on four hits, no errors.
Bottom: Shawn Duinkerk pitching for Aruba
Bangor 1 hit, no runs, no errors
Score: Aruba 3, Bangor 0