BANGOR, Maine — Top-seeded Post 51 of Oakland forced a winner-take-all game for the American Legion Zone 1 baseball championship with a 5-1 victory over Coffee News in the first game of the championship round Saturday night.
The final game is set for 4 p.m. Sunday at Husson University.
Both Post 51 (17-5) and Coffee News of Bangor (15-6) will represent Zone 1 at states, which begin Wednesday at the Wainwright Complex in South Portland.
Post 51 staked recent Waterville High School graduate Danny Pooler to a 3-0 lead in the second inning, and the right-hander went on to yield just one unearned run on six hits with five strikeouts, two walks and two hit batters.
Devin Warren worked a 1-2-3 ninth for Post 51.
Coffee News mounted its first threat against Pooler in the top of the second, getting runners to second and third base with two outs before Post 51 center fielder Devin Warren made an inning-ending diving catch of Johnny Cote’s line drive toward the right-center field gap.
A one-out RBI single by Derek Bowen and a two-out ground single through the shortstop hole by Jake Dexter that plated two runs gave Post 51 a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second. That rally also was fueled by three walks by Bangor starter James Prescott.
Prescott went on to retire nine of 10 batters he faced through the end of the fifth, but Coffee News was unable to capitalize offensively against Pooler until manufacturing an unearned run in the top of the sixth.
Trevor DeLaite opened the inning with a bunt single down the third-base line, stole second and scored on a throwing error after a fielder’s choice grounder by Andrew Hillier to make it 3-1.
Post 51 tried to get that run back in the bottom of the inning, with a one-out single by Dylan Hapworth and a two-out single by Jonathan Wilkie, but Coffee News reliever Brian Peirce came on to strike out Bowen to end the threat.
Post 51 capitalized on two Coffee News errors to stretch its lead to 5-1 an inning later as Trevor Gettig doubled and Dexter drew an intentional walk before Pooler hit an RBI groundout. A dropped popup then allowed Dexter to score its second run of the inning.
A leadoff walk to Ben Crichton and a single by DeLaite gave Coffee News runners on first and second with no one out in the eighth, but Post 51 left fielder A.J. Godin cut Crichton down at the plate as he attempted to score on a one-out single by Hillier.
Peter Kemble then was hit by a pitch to load the bases before Pooler struck out Jordan Derrah to end the inning.
Hapworth and Gettig each doubled and singled for Post 51 while Dexter singled twice.
DeLaite had three singles for Coffee News of Bangor while Hillier singled twice.
In Saturday’s first game, Post 51 clinched its berth in the state tournament by defeating Brewer 8-5 in an elimination game.
Brewer (15-7) jumped out to a 3-1 lead through 1½ innings against Post 51 starter Cody Martin, but Martin then held the Falcons hitless from the third inning through the seventh while Post 51 gradually pulled ahead with a run in the bottom of the third and two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings off Brewer starter Carter DeRedin.
Devin Warren came on in the eighth inning to earn his second save of the tournament for Post 51.
Coffee News (15-6) 000 001 00 — 1 6 3
Post 51 (17-5) 030 000 20x — 5 8 1
Prescott, Peirce (6), Colford (7) and Huston; Pooler and Folsom
Brewer (15-7) 120 000 020 — 5 7 1
Post 51 (16-5) 101 022 11x — 8 15 1
Martin, Warren (8) and Gettig; DeRedin, Maxsimic (8) and Maxsimic, DeRedin (8)
