The Ellsworth and Bangor baseball teams played out an instant classic on Friday night at Mansfield Stadium, as the Eagles prevailed 9-7 after 11 innings of deliberation.
Entering Friday’s contest averaging 10 runs per game — having mercy ruled both Brewer and Edward Little last week — the Rams (now 4-2) struck early and often versus Ellsworth, loading the bases in the first and third, and plating two in the second.
Yet Ellsworth (now 5-1) kept pace with the Rams with the help of its defense, stringing together inning-ending double plays in the first and third, and later beating sophomore Gavin Glanville-True (assist from junior left fielder Ridge Weatherbee to junior catcher Hollis Grindal) at the plate in the fourth.
The action peaked in the seventh, when Ellsworth turned a 4-3 deficit into a 7-4 lead, before Bangor responded with three runs of its own to send the game into extra innings.
“That was the longest, most fun game I’ve ever played,” Grindal said. “It was scary, but we all just stepped up in big moments. We’re all-around amazing defenders.”
In extras, Ellsworth junior Brayden King (2.2 innings pitched, two earned runs) and Bangor junior Landen Parizo (three innings pitched, zero earned runs) briefly restored order on the mound, before Ellsworth struck again in the 11th.
With the bases loaded and two outs, junior Tommy Jude (2-for-4, three RBIs) smacked the game-winning two-run single to left, and sophomore Jackson Barry (4.1 innings, two earned runs) returned to the mound in the bottom of the frame to seal the Eagle win, stranding three runners.
“I told myself out loud, on the mound, ‘Be competitive,’ over and over again,” King said. “This whole team is competitive. We’re not gonna give up. We’ve played together for so long, we know what the others are going to do all the time.”
Ellsworth’s defensive chemistry also played out in the sixth and eighth innings, executing successful rundowns against Bangor sophomore Kyle Johnson and then senior Jack Earl.
At bat in the seventh, Ellsworth sophomore Dawson Curtis (2-for-4, two walks, two RBIs) singled home junior Luke Horne (1-for-4, one walk, two runs), King (0-for-3, one walk, one RBI) hit a sacrifice fly to score Curtis, and Jude doubled home senior Miles Palmer (0-for-4, two walks, two runs).
“That was just a gritty team win, really,” Ellsworth head coach Dan Curtis said. “They’re high school boys, and you could see their confidence ebbing and flowing. We cashed in on a few opportunities with runners in scoring position.”
The Rams outhit Ellsworth 14 to 7, tallied 13 total walks to Ellsworth’s 12, and struck out six times to Ellsworth’s 14.
Senior catcher Jack Schuck (3-for-6, one RBI, one run), sophomore Teddy Stephenson (five innings pitched, one earned run; 2-for-4, one RBI) and sophomore Scott Socobasin (four walks, two runs) paced Bangor’s offense, but the Rams’ errors on the basepaths and in the field was what ultimately cost them.
“Give credit to Ellsworth, they made plays when they needed to,” Bangor head coach Dave Morris said. “They deserve the game. There were some positives — Landen came in and did a heck of a job, and we battled — but when you give teams four or five outs in an inning you’re gonna lose games. That’s baseball.”
