BANGOR, Maine — Ethan Stoddard and Zach Cowperthwaite combined to scatter nine hits over nine innings as the Bangor Coffee News Comrades captured the American Legion Zone 1 baseball title Sunday with a 7-4 victory over Brewer at Husson University.
The win came in what turned out to be the second game of the championship-round doubleheader, as Brewer defeated Bangor Coffee News 9-4 earlier in the day to force a winner-take-all final.
Both top-ranked Bangor Coffee News (14-5) and No. 3 Brewer (11-9) will advance to the state American Legion tournament scheduled to begin Wednesday, also at Husson University.
Bangor Coffee News, seeking its third state championship in the last four years, will open against the Zone 4 runner-up, Fayette-Staples of Saco, at 10 a.m. while Brewer will face Zone 4 champion Wells at 7 p.m.
Stoddard, a recent Old Town High School graduate, allowed just one hit while working six scoreless innings on the mound before giving way to Cowperthwaite, a rising junior at Bangor High School who pitched two more scoreless innings before yielding three runs on five hits in the top of the ninth.
Bangor Coffee News, which rested several starters in Sunday’s first game, broke a scoreless deadlock in the bottom of the third inning of the finale.
Tyler Parke was hit by a Cam Harvey pitch with one out, advanced to third base on an infield error and scored on Noah Missbrenner’s infield groundout.
Brewer threatened in the top of the fourth as Alex Maxsimic reached third base with one out, but he was cut down at the plate when a pitch by Stoddard sailed past Parke and caromed off the wall behind the plate right back to Parke, who flipped the ball to Stoddard who tagged the sliding Maxsimic out at home.
Bangor Coffee News extended its lead to 2-0 in the sixth as Austin Sheehan hit a leadoff single to center, stole second base and moved to third on a Gary Farnham groundout before scoring on Zach Ireland’s sacrifice fly to left.
Cowperthwaite tripled to the right-center field gap with one out in Bangor Coffee News’ seventh and scored on a two-out wild pitch by Brewer reliever Michael Bailey to make it 3-0.
Brewer second baseman Alex Flagg, who entered the game as a defensive replacement in the bottom of the seventh, opened the top of the eighth with a triple to deep center field and scored the Falcons’ first run on a two-out single to left-center by Logan Rogerson.
Bangor’s Farnham countered with a leadoff triple to the left-field fence in the bottom of the inning and immediately came home when Ireland went to deep left-center for a second straight triple to push Bangor’s lead to 4-1.
After Ryan Brookings walked, Ireland scored on Parke’s squeeze bunt. Brookings, who reached second in the play, stole third base and scored after after an errant throw on the play.
Stoddard then walked, advanced to second on a flyout by Cowperthwaite and scored the Comrades’ final run as Missbrenner singled to center.
Brewer loaded the bases with one out in the ninth on singles by Jack Corey, Alex Brooks and Jack Freeman, and three runs scored on a balk and RBI singles by Bailey and Tyler Hersey before Cowperthwaite induced the game’s final out.
Cowperthwaite and Missbrenner each had two of Bangor Coffee News’ eight hits, while Missbrenner and Ireland each had two RBIs.
Rogerson and Brooks each had two hits for Brewer.
Brewer never trailed earlier in the day during the opening game of the championship round.
It was the Falcons’ third straight tournament victory since opening play Friday with a loss to R.H. Foster of Hampden while Bangor Coffee News had its eight-game winning streak halted.
Brewer never trailed in the game after scoring two runs in the top of the second on an RBI pop single by Zac Duncan and a sacrifice fly by Bailey.
Brewer right-handers Michael Dougherty and Rogerson combined to hold Bangor Coffee News to one run on five hits through eight innings as the Falcons built their lead to 9-1.
Duncan, Rogerson, Alex Maxsimic and Corey each had two hits for Brewer, while Hersey scored three runs.
Ben Crichton paced Bangor with a double and two singles while Ireland singled twice.
