KENNEBUNK — When summer arrives, along comes the start of American Legion baseball. For some teams, it’s a second chance to right the wrongs of the spring high school season.
For the players of Fayette-Staples, comprised of players from Thornton Academy, that’s exactly what the team is taking advantage of.
Fayette-Staples defeated Kennebunk 8-1 on Tuesday.
Thornton Academy was considered the favorite heading into the start of the spring baseball season to represent York County in the Maine Western Class A playoffs. While the Golden Trojans had a successful run, they were unable to attain enough Heal Points to climb into the top eight in the standings, missing out on the playoffs.
Instead, the Trojans watched as ancient rival Biddeford became the Cinderella of the playoffs, shocking everyone by making it to the Maine Class A state title game.
“We’re playing well, we played well during the regular season,” Fayette-Staples first baseman Alex Newton said. “Sometimes the ball just didn’t roll our way. We’re just looking to have some fun, and maybe go to the state tournament.”
The team took out its frustrations on Kennebunk Tuesday. Fayette-Staples took a quick 2-0 lead in the first, when Sam Canales plated Chris Stasio with an RBI double to left field. Two batters later, Richardson-Newton scored Canales on an RBI double, also hit to left field.
Fayette-Staples added another run in the third, thanks to another RBI on a single by Newton. However, the bats really broke out for Fayette-Staples in the fifth inning, when the team scored four runs in the inning, including another RBI double by Newton, an RBI double by Matt Turnage and an RBI single by Jack Kenney. Fayette-Staples plated one more run in the sixth, when Newton scored on an error.
Newton finished as the offensive star, going 3 for 3 with three RBIs. Canales also finished the game with three hits.
“I was seeing the ball well, sitting on fastballs,” Newton said. “I was looking to go opposite field [with the hits] the whole game.”
The lead was all Fayette-Staples pitcher Keegan Sullivan needed. Sullivan struck out seven batters in over five innings pitched, allowing a run on four hits. Of his seven strikeouts, six were tossed in the first two innings alone.
“I was just pitching to contact, I wasn’t worried about the strikeouts,” Sullivan said. “I was just pitching my game.”
Turnage came on in the sixth, striking out three batters in less than two innings of work to seal the game.
Kennebunk suffered from a numbers game, playing with exactly nine players. The team’s lone run came in the second inning, when Tom Snow plated Dusty French on an RBI double to left field.
Though he took the loss, Kennebunk starter Pat Fulford pitched the entire contest and struck out nine batters.
Fayette-Staples travels to Sanford on Thursday for a contest against Bonanza, while Kennebunk travels to North Berwick to play against Noble.
-Contact Dave Dyer at 282-1535 ext. 318
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