AUGUSTA — Advanced Tech of Biddeford had five days to psyche itself up for the beginning of the Maine State American Legion tournament.
Unfortunately for Biddeford, Day 1 proved to be a huge let down.
The Zone 5 champions fell behind early and wound up suffering 14-3 rout at the hands of Zone 1 champs, Bangor, at the CARA Complex.
The “mercy rule” shortened the game to seven innings.
The setback sent Biddeford to the losers bracket, where it is scheduled to meet Waterville Post 6 ”“ 7-6 losers to Smith-Tobey Post 21 ”“ this morning.
“That’s the opposite of how you’d like to start a double-elimination tournament,” said Ad Tech manager Casey Roy. “We’ve dug ourselves a hole. Now we’re going to have to string together a couple good games.”
Biddeford might have been a little antsy, after sitting since Thursday, when it wrapped up its first zone title.
“We had a lot of guys who were really excited to come,” said Ad Tech third baseman Nate Cadorette. “It’s the first time in a long time. There might have been a little anxiousness, there.”
Biddeford’s fate was all but sealed in the bottom of the first when Bangor scored six times before recording an out.
Four of those were charged to starter Trevor Fleurent.
“They were hitting the ball hard on us,” said Roy. “We got behind, and playing catch up is a tough (task).”
Matters might have been worse for Ad Tech if Bangor hadn’t run into all three outs in that inning.
Ad Tech scraped up a run in the top of the second, but Bangor’s left-handed starter Joe Stanevicz handcuffed the Biddeford nine. Stanevicz went six innings.
Bangor built a 10-1 lead, then added four more runs in the fifth, three of them coming on Shane Walton’s homer ”“ estimated at 410 feet ”“ over the centerfield fence.
Biddeford did go down swinging, however, scoring twice in the seventh on Scott Callahan’s RBI single.
“I don’t think we played bad,” said Cadorette. “We just weren’t on like they were.”
— Contact Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less