BANGOR— Junior center fielder Emily Gilmore rifled a triple to left field to open the seventh inning, her third hit of the game, and scored when Cordelia Stewart grounded a sharp single through the drawn-in infield as the Bangor High School Rams advanced to the Eastern Maine Class A championship game with a thrilling 4-3 win over Cony of Augusta on Saturday.
Second seed Bangor, now 15-3, will face 15-3 Messalonskee of Oakland, the top seed, in Wednesday’s 7 p.m. regional championship game in Augusta.
Bangor erased a 1-0 deficit with three runs in the sixth inning but Cony rallied for two in the seventh to tie it.
Gilmore began the seventh by drilling Brochu’s 3-2 pitch just beyond the reach of left fielder Haley Ward, who fully extended to try to make a backhanded catch.
“It was a low and inside fastball and just poked it,” said Gilmore. “I was just looking for something across the plate to hit. I thought she was going to catch it for a second.”
“It was a fastball inside. It might have been a rise ball. She got a hold of it,” said Brochu.
“[Gilmore] is easily the best hitter in the league. She makes solid contact all the time. I threw everything I could at her.”
Stewart ripped the next pitch into left field to end it.
“She threw a lot of first-pitch strikes. I was just trying to get the ball in play,” said Stewart.
Cony had taken a 1-0 lead in the fifth when Ward reached on a one-out infield single, Cony’s first hit off Bangor pitcher Skylar Cassum, and scored when Brochu lined a long double to left that hit the painted foul line on the fence.
But Bangor answered in the bottom of the sixth when Emily Reilly grounded a sharp leadoff single to left, stole second and scored on Lilli Wiseman’s bouncing ball through the middle.
Wiseman continued to second on the throw to the plate and scored when Kylie Cunningham grounded a similar single to center.
Cassum blooped a single into center but Cunningham was thrown out at third.
Cassum had reached second on the play and courtesy runner Eve George alertly scored when the Cony first baseman dropped the ball after tagging out Megan Conner, who grounded the ball to her.
But the resilient Rams from Cony tied it when Cari Hopkins drew a one-out walk, Ward punched a single to center, Brochu pulled a ground ball double over the third base bag to score Hopkins and Ward scored on Sydney Cheever’s grounder back to the mound.
Senior righty Cassum pitched a complete game, scattering four hits while striking out 10, walking two and hitting two batters. She threw 120 pitches, 84 for strikes.
“She pitched very well,” said Brochu. “She had quite a few strikeouts. She got us on a lot of high balls.”
“My drop was flat but my fastball and changeup worked pretty well,” said Cassum. “I threw to the best of my ability.”
Gilmore had a triple, double and single.
Brochu, who pitched well in defeat, led her team with her two doubles and two RBIs. Ward had a pair of singles.
Brochu pitched an eight-hitter with four strikeouts and three walks. She threw 94 pitches, 65 for strikes.
“Bangor has always been the most competitive team we’ve faced, hitting-wise. They’ve always been a big challenge for me as a pitcher,” said Brochu.
“We always have great games against Cony,” said Bangor senior right fielder Wiseman. “That was unbelievable. It was the greatest team effort I’ve ever seen.”