BANGOR – The first-year Bangor Babes played their home opener in the Greater Northeast College Baseball League on Wednesday night at the Dr. John Winkin Sports Complex on the Husson University campus and a couple of players from eastern Maine helped the Babes earn an 8-3 victory over the Gorham Lightning.
Lincoln’s Isaac Hainer, who plays at NCAA Division III Clark University in Worcester, Mass., and Greenbush’s Tanner Evans, who plays at Husson, each drove in a pair of runs as the Babes ran their record to 5-0 in front of approximately 150 fans.
The Babes had posted 6-3 and 7-1 victories over the Sebago Slammin’ Salmon in Biddeford on Tuesday night.
Possible showers and thundershowers were in the forecast but the sky had cleared come game time.
The Babes helped themselves by turning four double plays.
It was the opener for the Lightning, who had just nine available players. All of them were recent high school graduates including Brewer’s Grady Vanidestine and Hampden Academy’s T.J. Llerena.
Catcher Hainer went three-for-four with a two-run double and third baseman Evans had a two-run triple and a base hit.
“It was a great feeling to be out here with a ton of guys you’d just met. We’re starting to bond and being 5-0 to start is an easy way to bond with the guys,” said Hainer.
Righthanded pitcher Alex Smith, who was 5-1 with a 3.11 earned run average for a Husson team that reached an NCAA Division III regional final for the first time in program history this spring, came on to get the final four outs.
He said the opener was “great.
“There was an electric crowd. This is good for the city of Bangor. They haven’t had something like this (in a long time) so it was really cool to be part of this,” said Smith, who is from Northborough, Mass.
The Babes took a lead they would never relinquish when they scored twice in the second inning off former Brewer High standout lefty Grady Vanidestine.
Liam O’Neal and Jason Bartlett drew one-out walks and, after a flyout to right, Hainer drilled an opposite-field double to the right center field gap to score both.
Hainer said Babes head coach Trevor DeLaite had a meeting with him that proved productive.
“He told me to start working more towards right center on fastballs,” said Hainer, who went to Mattanawcook Academy in Lincoln and played in three games as a freshman at Clark University this spring. “(Vanidestine) threw me a fastball on the outer half of the plate early in the count and I tried to jump on it.”
“(Hainer) was great,” said Bangor head coach DeLaite. “He finally changed his approach when it comes to what he’s trying to do with the ball.
Those were the only two runs off Vanidestine, who went four strong innings with four strikeouts and two walks.
He allowed four hits.
The Babes reached Cape Elizabeth’s Gabe Harmon for three runs in the fifth.
Hampden’s Sam Economy and Texan Charlie Deaton walked and, one out later, Evans hit a fly ball into short center field that wound up being a two-run triple when the ball skipped past diving center fielder Llerena.
“I thought it was going to be a bloop single but we’ll take it,” said former Old Town High School hockey and baseball standout Evans, who scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Tenants Harbor’s Liam O’Neal.
Llerena came on to pitch in the sixth and the Babes added another run when Old Town’s Matt Seymour walked, stole second, went to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch.
Bangor’s Wyatt Stevens tossed two scoreless innings for the Babes and Portland’s Brian Riley threw three scoreless innings before the Lightning scored a pair of runs off Kyle Poissoit in the seventh on consecutive hits by Harmon (single), Brunswick’s Anthony Cooley (RBI triple) and Erskine Academy of South China’s Hunter Foard (RBI single).
Bangor’s Jonah Baude, who pitched at the University of Maine at Presque Isle as a freshman this spring, came on in the eighth and hit a batter and gave up a base hit to Freeport’s Chris Murphy before retiring former Deering High of Portland’s Avery Lawrence on a sacrifice fly.
Smith came on and walked the first man he faced before he induced an inning-ending double play from shortstop Marcus Delgado to second baseman Jason Bartlett to first baseman Landon Williams.
“When you have a defense like that behind you, it makes your job easier,” said Smith. “You throw the ball over the plate, let them do their work and walk off the field.”
He retired the side in order in the ninth.
“The middle infield was definitely on tonight,” said Evans.
Bangor added two more runs in the eighth when Seymour doubled and came all the way around to score on a throwing error before Hainer singled and scored on an Economy triple.
“We were missing a lot of guys,” said Gorham coach Chad Drouin. “We have a roster of 21 but the high school playoffs are still going on and some guys were unable to make it.
“We battled. We’ll be right there at the end of the season,” said Drouin, whose Lightning will host Old Orchard Beach for a doubleheader that begins at 3 p.m. on Thursday.
The Babes will host the Augusta Surgin’ Sturgeon at 6 p.m. on Friday.
