The Bangor High School baseball team won its initial playoff game Wednesday night 10-0 over Brunswick, with the Bangor coach crediting a complete team effort that included nearly perfect pitching, timely hitting, solid defense and spirited baserunning.
Bangor coach Dave Morris called it a “great team win” and stressed the many different ways that team members throughout the lineup contributed to a “disciplined” effort across the many facets of the game.
Perhaps most impressively, freshman pitcher Cayden Karam threw five innings of no-hit ball for Bangor, according to the box score from Game Changer, the official baseball scorekeeping platform used in Maine high school baseball. Karam struck out eight batters and walked one in the stellar effort.
Morris said Karam “pitched a great game” and added that the defense behind him also played well.
A home run from shortstop Teddy Stephenson certainly didn’t hurt, either.
“Teddy had really good at bats all game long. He’s a strong kid,” Morris said. “The home run was a terrific kind of a backbreaker.”
Morris explained how that home run, which put the Rams up 7-0 on their way to a 10-run rule victory after five innings, helped erase the chance of a comeback for Brunswick.
“Because when you’re down 7-0, you know, you’re hoping that you can just kind of score some runs and chip away,” Morris said, adding that the eighth run then gets people starting to think about the 10-run rule in the back of their mind. “So that was not only a good hit by him, but it was just a backbreaker, I thought.”
Morris also credited leadoff hitter Gavin Glanville-True for going three for four at the plate and, like Stephenson, providing some great at-bats for the team.
Some hard base running, including Stephenson stealing home for one of Bangor’s runs, also helped in the victory, according to Morris.
“It just goes to show you how hustle is a difference,” the coach said.
Bangor will now play in the Class A North semifinals on Saturday against the winner of Thursday’s quarterfinal matchup between Messalonskee of Oakland and Mt. Blue of Farmington.
Morris is proud of his team and expects the Bangor players to maintain their mindset of keeping things simple, playing disciplined and having fun.
“Our whole thing is kind of just taking one pitch at a time and enjoying the moment, staying in the moment,” Morris said, noting that it gets harder as the playoffs continue. “And our guys will be ready.”
