Bangor baseball beats Brewer 7-3 in regional semifinals

Ten days after losing their regular season finale to No. 8 Brewer and letting their rivals into the playoffs, the No. 4 Bangor Rams came back to defeat the Witches on Saturday night, dispatching them 7-3 in the A North regional semifinals at a packed Mansfield Stadium in Bangor.

Down 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth, the Rams turned the tables on Brewer with a four-run outburst, stringing together a single, an error at first, a sacrifice fly, two doubles and another single to take a 5-3 lead and never look back.

A two-out, two-RBI single from sophomore second baseman Ethan Sproul provided two more insurance runs for Bangor in the sixth, and sophomore fireballer Teddy Stephenson (eight strikeouts, five hits) completed his four-inning relief appearance without allowing a run.

“It feels amazing,” Stephenson said. “It just feels so good. To beat them in the semifinals, there’s nothing like it.”

The mood was quite different for Bangor in the early going, as the Rams grounded into a double play in the first, stranded three runners in the second and faced a 3-0 deficit through two and a half innings.

With three of Brewer’s starting pitchers out due to injury, junior catcher Kaiden Morin took the reins for Brewer and delivered in stunning fashion, pitching three innings with four strikeouts and one earned run in his second-ever appearance on the mound.

Meanwhile, Morin helped his cause with a double in the first and a single in the third, and Brewer would get RBIs from senior Nick Tozier (2 for 3), junior Jake Perry (2 for 4) and senior Hunter Merrithew (2 for 4).

Entering the fourth inning, Brewer had outhit Bangor 5-1.

“I knew we were shorthanded, and I just wanted to step up and be the best teammate that I could,” Morin said. “We knew we had nothing to lose, so it was all gas, no brakes. I’m proud of this whole team. We battled the entire game.”

The Rams worked seven walks and 69 pitches out of Morin, putting them in position to hit Brewer’s relievers starting in the fourth.

All nine members of Bangor’s starting lineup ultimately got on base at least once, tallying seven hits and nine walks by the end of the night. Senior Jack Schuck (1 for 2, two walks, RBI), senior Geo Socolow (0 for 1, three walks), and sophomore Kyle Johnson (1 for 2, walk, HBP, RBI) got on base three times apiece.

“We didn’t lose our cool. That Morin kid kept us at bay, but we just competed and kept our composure,” Bangor head coach Dave Morris said. “We had good at-bats against Morin, and scoring that one run off him was big. Then Teddy came in and [kept] that composure. We needed him.”

Stephenson promptly struck out six of the first eight batters he saw, going on to throw 72 pitches across four innings (47 strikes). He stranded three runners in the top of the seventh, inducing a grounder to third baseman Jack Earl to seal the win

With the victory, Bangor (11-6-1) qualified for its fourth consecutive Class A regional final, previously winning the regional crown in 2021 and 2022. Standing between the Rams and their 25th regional title since 1970 is a date with No. 2 Messalonskee (15-3) on Tuesday afternoon at Morton Field in Augusta.

The Eagles are coming off a 6-5 victory over No. 3 Skowhegan in which they hit two home runs, and previously mercy ruled Bangor 11-0 at Mansfield Stadium on May 15 , featuring a Dennis Martin no-hitter.

“We never second-guess ourselves. We’ve been playing that way all year long,” Morris said. “Messalonskee’s going to be a challenge for us, but I believe in our guys. We’ll go down there and we’ll battle.”

Meanwhile, Brewer wrapped up its season with an 8-10 record, including an upset victory over No. 1 Hampden in the regional quarterfinals and a 1-2 record versus Bangor.

The Witches will graduate just three seniors in ace Grady Vanidestine, left fielder Tozier and third baseman Merrithew.

Head coach Dana Corey is excited to keep working with Brewer’s talented class of 2025, which includes Morin, Perry, and four solid arms in Anderson Clifford, Zach Arnold, Logan Littlefield and Blake Littlefield.

“We started out with five quality starters this year, and the other guys coming in to fill in [due to injury] did a good job,” Corey said. “As the season grew on, we improved and had some big wins. I’m very proud of the kids.”