OLD ORCHARD BEACH ”“ It’s not often a couple fly balls to an infielder have the potential to dramatically alter the outcome of a game.

Such was the case Thursday night, as Milford second baseman Kyle Winters battled a lingering fog that hovered over the field and made two difficult grabs to help secure a 5-2 victory over Fayette-Staples in an American Legion Northeast Regional Tournament game at The Ballpark in Old Orchard Beach.

Both plays by Winters came with the bases loaded in the top of the eighth with his team leading by three. Both had the opportunity to open the gates for Fayette-Staples, which had the tying run at first each time.

“That kid (Winters) made a couple of great catches in the fog,” said Fayette-Staples head coach Ray Petit. “The second one, (Josh) Coffin (representing the tying run) was at third base when he caught the ball.”

Jeff Gelinas started the eighth-inning uprising by drawing a one-out walk off Milford reliever Christian Baglini. Alex Fallon followed with a single and Coffin walked to load the bases. Cam Jackman and Dillon Dunbar both popped up to Winters to end the inning.

“The first one I couldn’t see and Eddie (Michaud) our third baseman helped me a lot,” said Winters after what was his second, and worst, experience playing in fog. “I found it late but I was still able to get to it.

“I got lucky on the second one because I actually saw it pretty well off the bat. I knew Nick (Pinto, the right fielder) was going to have trouble with it and I made a pretty good play on it.”

The loss dropped the host Fayette-Staples into the loser’s bracket of the eight-team double-elimination tournament. It plays Concord, N.H. today in the second game of a 9:30 a.m. doubleheader.

Milford, the Connecticut state champion, will face Barnstable, Mass. in the second game of a 4:30 p.m. doubleheader today.

Milford opened the scoring in the third when Michaud’s double scored Sean Cameron to give Milford a 1-0 lead.

Fayette-Staples got the run back in the fourth after Gelinas, who received the start, helped his own cause with a one-out double. Fallon followed with a single that scored Gelinas, who did a barrel roll past Milford catcher Joe Zanghi to avoid a tag and tie the game at 1-1.

Milford surged back ahead for good with a pair of runs in its half of the fourth. Jake Saley started the inning with a single and took second when Fayette-Staples right fielder Ryder Kenney mishandled the ball. Pinto singled to score Saley and put Milford back on top 2-1. Milford kept the inning going and made it 3-1 when Pinto came home from third on the back half of a double steal.

Fayette-Staples created a one-run game again in the fifth as Dunbar led off the inning with a single. He scored on a single by Ryder Kenney to make it a 3-2 contest.

Another two-run inning for Milford in the fifth created the biggest lead of the game. Milford kicked off the frame with back-to-back singles by Winters and Michaud. Both runners came around to score in the inning, which also featured a double by Saley, and Milford owned a 5-2 advantage.

“It’s a little disheartening when they kept coming back after we scored,” said Petit. “When your offense is going, that’s when you put teams away, but they answered back every time we scored.”

Gelinas went all the way for Fayette-Staples. He allowed five runs on 10 hits and struck out 10.

In other tournament action Thursday, First Title, the Maine state champions from Portland, beat Woonsocket, R.I. 4-1.

Nick Lops and Drew Ferrick each collected two hits and drove in a run to lead First Title while Mitchell Powers started and posted the win.

First Title will take on Saratoga, N.Y. in Game 1 of the afternoon doubleheader today starting at 4:30 p.m.

In Thursday morning’s doubleheader, Saratoga blanked Essex, Vt. 3-0 and Barnstable, Mass. topped Concord, N.H. 5-1.

—Contact Mark Jeanneret at 282-1535, Ext. 323.