Panthers defeated in ‘D’ semis
by Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
MARS HILL — The Bangor Christian Patriots made the trip up I-95 Saturday and turned in an impressive performance against Eastern Maine Class D’s No. 1-ranked Central Aroostook Panthers.
DAN BREWER rounds third base while receiving congratulations from coach Brent York after hitting a two-run home run in Thursday’s quarterfinal playoff game against Limestone-MSSM. 
For the second consecutive year, BC ended CA’s season, this time with a 4-2 come-from-behind victory.
Trailing 2-1, the fifth-seeded Patriots tied the score with a run in the top of the fifth and grabbed the lead by scoring twice in the sixth, rallying behind the bottom of the order after the first two batters of the inning were retired.
Bangor Christian pitcher Ben Bragg did the rest. He closed out his complete-game performance by retiring 10 of the final 11 batters he faced.
The winning rally took place as No. 7 batter Tucker Rice drew a walk and advanced to third on David Peters’ single. After Peters stole second, designated hitter Kyle Holmes, the No. 9 hitter, lined a single into right field that scored both Rice and Peters.
Brendan York, the Panthers’ senior starter, went the first six innings and allowed six hits, striking out five and walking three. He was able to wiggle out of a pair of BC threats, both in the first and fourth innings, without allowing a run in either frame.
Central Aroostook commited three errors in the third inning, but limited the visitors to a single run.
The Panthers took the lead in the bottom of the fourth as Zach McClung walked, advanced to second on an infield groundout and to third on a single off the bat of Darrin Murray.
Murray stole second base before Corey Richardson, CA’s No. 9 batter, singled into right-center field to plate both McClung and Murray. However, the Panthers, who finished with a 13-3-1 record, were held hitless for the remainder of the game.
Bangor Christian made it 2-2 in the fifth after Zac Palmeter doubled, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Brad Wilcox and scored on Cody Collins’ sacrifice fly. That set up the sixth-inning heroics.
Bragg went all seven innings, walking six and hitting a batter. He fanned five and surrendered just three hits – one by Joe Stiles in the second inning in addition to those in the fourth by Murray and Richardson.
Wilcox led the Patriots with two hits. BC had seven stolen bases in the contest.
On Thursday, the Panthers hosted No. 8 Limestone-MSSM and came through with a 12-2 win in a game called after six innings due to the 10-run rule.
CA lead 2-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth, but put four runs on the board in that inning. Dan Brewer hit a two-run homer to highlight the rally.
The Panthers scored four more times in the fifth, with Brewer again providing the key hit with a two-run double.
Ross Grass, Brewer and York combined on the pitching duties and allowed six hits. The Panther defense played error-free baseball throughout the game.
Murray doubled and singled and picked up two RBI for CA, while McClung also had two hits.
Last Tuesday, Limestone-MSSM was able to reach the quarterfinal round after besting Fort Fairfield at home, 10-5, in a preliminary playoff game.
After losing the two regular season meetings to the Tigers, the Eagles prevailed behind a strong performance on the mound from Bernier. The sophomore righthander struck out 14 batters and allowed only one walk and five hits while doing the distance.
He outdueled his cousin, FF’s Austin Bernier, who also pitched a complete game.
The Tigers bolted out to a 3-0 lead on hits by Andrew Tuck, Austin Bernier, Landon Towle and Tyler Churchill in the third inning.
The Eagles tied the game in the bottom of the inning and then took a 6-3 lead by scoring two unearned runs in the fourth and another in the fifth. They put the game away with a four-run outburst in the sixth.
