LEWISTON

When Pastime Club of Lewiston and Rogers Post of Auburn meet during the summer Senior American Legion Zone 2 baseball season, the games are typically close, often going down to the final out.

On Saturday at Elliot Field, host Pastime Club, with players representing the towns of Lewiston, Lisbon, Monmouth and Sabattus, led by one run entering the seventh inning in both contests. Rogers Post rallied for a 5-3 victory in the opener, while Pastime Club held on for a 6-5 win in the second.

“The kids responded well,” said Pastime Club coach Jake Brown after his team finished Saturday with a 6-1 record. “The difference between the first game and the second game is we got those timely hits in the second. The first game we had runners in scoring position in almost every inning, but just never picked up that key hit to break it open.”

In the opener, Rogers Post (8-3) pitcher Damien St. Pierre worked in and out of trouble throughout his six innings of work. Pastime put two runners on in both the first and second frames, but failed to score.

On the other side, Rogers Post jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second when Gus Paradie led off with a long home run to left field against Pastime Club starting pitcher Hunter Landry, letting out a loud “see ya,” when the ball left his bat.

The visitors claimed a 2-0 lead in the fourth. Paradie, who was 4-for-4, singled with one out. Pinch runner Owen Shaw moved up 90 feet on a single by Ethan Brown and sprinted home on a third straight single by St. Pierre.

Through four innings, the hosts had left six runners on base. However, the fifth was a different story. With one out Hunter Richardson, Landry (RBI) and Evan Cox (RBI) each singled to tie the game. Lucas Francis of Lisbon connected for a single, and with two outs, Gordon Beckwith gave Pastime Club a 3-2 lead with his team’s fifth single of the frame.

Landry pitched into the seventh (6 1/3 innings, three strikeouts, eight hits).

“I think Hunter Landry did a great job in the first game against their top of the order,” said Brown after his left-hander held Austin Brown, Grant Hartley and Gavin Bates to a combined 1- for-10 showing.

However, Rogers Post had one most push left. With the bases loaded, reliever Owen Cox walked Bates to tie the game. Paradie came through again, ripping a single to left field for a 4-3 advantage. St. Pierre (2-for-4, two RBIs) singled to give his team a 5-3 edge.

Ben Cassidy relieved St. Pierre (six innings, 112 pitches, four strikeouts, 10 hits) for the seventh and retired Pastime in order on 10 pitches to end it.

Game 2

Brock Belanger led off the bottom of the first with a bunt single and moved to second on a throwing error. A Cassidy wild pitch moved him to third and Belanger easily scored on a long fly ball by Evan Cox for a 1-0 Pastime lead.

Rogers Post broke through against Richardson in the third. Hartley ripped a runscoring double the opposite way just inside the left-field line, scoring Austin Brown. Bates gave his team a 2-1 lead with a sacrifice fly.

“That is a good ball club over there,” Jake Brown said of Rogers Post.

Cassidy retired Pastime Club in order in the second and third frames, but ran into trouble in the fourth. Consecutive singles by Evan Cox, Landry and Jake LeBlond loaded the bases with no outs. Francis lifted a long fly ball to right that was dropped, with Evan Cox scoring to tie the game. Landry scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch, and Beckwith made it a 4-2 game with a run-scoring single.

With two outs, Belanger ripped a ground-rule double to right field, scoring Francis and Beckwith for a 6-2 lead.

“We are really capitalizing when the opportunities are given to us, and we are able to hop on things,” said Francis.

Bates gave Rogers Post life in the fifth, sending a Richardson pitch over the left-field fence for a threerun home run, closing the visitors to 6-5.

Pastime Club held on from there, with Richardson tossing 103 pitches over six innings with six strikeouts and two walks. Francis closed things out, with the game ending on a double play.

“It was good to split with them. We bring momentum into our next games after the win in the second game,” Francis said.

Cassidy went the distance for Rogers Post with five strikeouts, one walk and seven hits allowed.

Coach Brown was pleased how well his team hung together.

“These guys are really close, and many of the starters are returners from last year,” the coach said. “They are able to pick each other up. You learn more from a loss sometimes, and we all have the goal of making it to the state tournament. I think you need two tight games like this to find success.”

Paradie added a hit in the second game, finishing 5-for- 8 in the twinbill. Hartley was 3-for-4 in the second game, while Bates drove in four runs.

LeBlond paced Pastime Club by going 4-for-7 on the day, while Beckwith was 3- for-6 and Belanger 3-for-7.