Wooden Bat Baseball: Bonny Eagle’s summer run ends at Scarborough

SCARBOROUGH—Jake Humphrey scored twice for the Scots and Cam Phinney once when Bonny Eagle dropped in for a quarterfinals bout at Scarborough on Thursday evening, July 25. The Storm, though, got the better of their guests in the end, propelled by big, early-game swings to a 6-3 triumph.

Scots head coach Ricky Hession took a moment to applaud a couple of his boys, including Humphrey. “Jake played really well,” he said. “Had a nice defensive play, stole a base, scored a couple runs. And Nate Morse had an RBI single.”

Bonny Eagle jumped out front in the top of the first, 2-0: Both Humphrey, the leadoff man, and Phinney, batting third, reached base on errors. Nate Morse and Mason Ryan contributed singles later in the inning, and soon enough the Scots had the lead.

Scot Jake Humphrey dives back to first. Adam Birt / American Journal

“Good baserunning, kind of found some spots with some hits,” Hession said of his boys’ offensive successes.

Scarborough responded, surging out front in the bottom of the first when Nick Frink clubbed a three-run homer. The team then doubled up on their tally in the third inning, putting up three more for a 6-2 advantage.

“Walks kind of hurt us a little bit, early walks,” Hession said, “and [Scarborough pitcher Ryan Gambardella] kept us off balance a little bit. We kind of struggled to get anything going against him for the rest of the game. And Scarborough put some good wood on the ball in some good situations.”

Humphrey scored again for the Scots in the fourth. Gambardella walked him onto base; Humphrey then stole both second and third. He zoomed home when Morse singled into right. Still, Humphrey’s second notch of the day only brought his boys within three, at 6-3; the No. 10 seed needed more offense if they wanted to upend the No. 2.

Defensively, the Scots looked respectable, especially after Scarborough’s bats cooled down following their early-game push. But while they kept the Storm from piling on any further runs, they wouldn’t get the additional points they needed. 6-3 the final.

“We played defensively pretty well all game,” Hession said.

Cam Phinney reels in an easy throw at first-base for an out. Adam Birt / American Journal

The loss ends Bonny Eagle’s run through the CMG Mortgage Summer League season. The League, established two years ago, provides players in Southern Maine a low-cost, low-travel developmental option. Athletes who’ll be returning to their high school teams the following spring are eligible. (So, no freshly graduated seniors, college-bound this autumn.)

“I think we improved,” Hession said, asked about the Scots’ summer, now that it’s over. “Some young guys got chances to play in some competitive situations that – I don’t know if they were fully ready for them, early in the summer, but as it went on, they really jumped into it and thrived in the role. It’s leading well towards what we’re trying to do next spring.”

Naturally, Thursday was not the first time the Scots and the Storm have clashed this summer; the teams previously met twice.

“We lost,” Hession said of those earlier meetings. “It was close both games, but Scarborough’s good. There’s a lot of talent there.”

Bonny Eagle defeated Biddeford 7-2 on Wednesday the 24th to earn their shot at the Storm (who are actually going by “Academy Mortgage” at present, after their sponsor for the summer).