BRISTOL, Connecticut — The Comrades live to fight another day.
After a disheartening loss to Cumberland, Rhode Island, on Wednesday, Coffee News of Bangor rebounded with an 8-1 second-round win over Lowell, Massachusetts, in the Northeast Regional American Legion tournament Thursday afternoon at Muzzy Field.
Bangor (20-9) will play again at 1 p.m. Friday against RCP-Cromwell, Connecticut, a 10-6 winner over Rochester, New Hampshire.
The Comrades took command early, scoring three times in the first inning off loser Matt Smith (5-2). Ben Crichton started the big inning with a double, then Smith walked Trevor DeLaite and Sam Huston to load the bases with zero outs.
Andrew Hillier (2-for-5) singled home a run, Kyle Stevenson singled home another and Jimmy Prescott walked with bases loaded, and before Lowell came to bat, Bangor had a 3-0 lead.
“All year long we’ve been playing very well,” said Bangor coach David Morris. “Yesterday was just a bad day. To get early runs was important, and we had one of our better pitchers going today.”
It stayed 3-0 until the fifth when Bangor scored four times off reliever Henry Funaro. Lyndon Westrich’s pinch single drove home a run, DeLaite singled home another, Huston hit a sacrifice fly and the other run scored on an error.
“The four-run fifth solidified things for us,” said Morris. “At 3-0 they’re in the game, but that inning took the wind out of their sails.”
Winning pitcher DeLaite was in trouble only in the fourth. Lowell (24-7) loaded the bases on two singles and a walk, but Joe Csokmay bounced to second on a 3-1 pitch to end the threat.
The left-handed DeLaite (9-0) didn’t allow a hit until the fourth and retired the side in order in the first, second, third, fifth, sixth and seventh in an overpowering performance. In eight innings he gave up just two hits, struck out seven and walked just two. Prescott pitched the ninth, allowing a run on a double by Conor Callery and a single by Chris Seidl.
“DeLaite hasn’t lost a game in two years,” said Morris, who said his ace is 18-0 over that span and will be attending the University of Maine. “He beat Cheshire [2014 Connecticut champ] in the regional in Middletown, [Connecticut], last year.”
The elimination loss was frustrating for Lowell.
“Hitting has been our go-to strength all season,” said coach Brian Martin. “Then we come here and get three-hit last night [1-0 loss to host team Bristol] and get three-hit again today. Then we threw in five errors today. But to be fair, we had some very good pitching in both games.”