PARIS — Nine innings weren’t enough to determine a winner in Tuesday evening’s Bessey Motors-Locke Mills Zone 3 American Legion baseball game.
Now the Oxford County neighbors have to wait nine days.
Locke Mills rallied for three runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh to force extra innings at Gouin Athletic Complex before the contest was suspended after nine in a 5-5 deadlock.
“Hopefully it’ll be a win,” Locke Mills first baseman and pitcher Ben Field. “We know we can play with them.”
The teams were slated to meet again Thursday, July 19 at Gould Academy in Bethel. They’ll finish this one that afternoon before playing the regularly scheduled game.
Home plate umpire Dan Deshaies called a halt to the proceedings at 8:08 p.m., after Locke Mills’ Danny Whitney and Kyle Peterson turned a double play to end the bottom of the ninth.
Deshaies told the teams that there was not enough daylight remaining to ensure that both the top and bottom halves of the 10th inning could be played.
It was a stunning turn of events for Bessey Motors (8-4), which missed out on a golden opportunity to tighten its grip on second place in the zone. Bessey committed all four of its errors from the sixth through ninth frames.
“We played terrible defense,” Bessey coach Shane Slicer said. “We played great defense Saturday (in a doubleheader sweep of Brunswick) and I thought we were over the hump with that. But it’s a young team.”
Spot starter Nick Bowie carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning, and Bessey was six outs away from a 5-0 shutout when Locke Mills (5-5) got to reliever Ryan Godin.
Alec Manning’s leadoff single set the table for Ben Field’s 370-foot home run to left field.
“I hit one here last year,” Field said. ‘I guess it’s good luck.”
Peterson reached base and eventually scored on two separate errors later in the inning.
A walk, an error and Kurt Morgan’s two-run double tied the game and chased Godin in the seventh.
Matt Beauchesne got the final two outs to preserve the tie. He also stranded a total of three Locke Mills runners on base in the eighth and ninth.
Locke Mills didn’t get a base hit against Bowie until Whitney’s sharp single with two out in the fifth.
Bowie, who just finished his sophomore year at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School, drew the start due to Riley Chickering’s family commitment. He struck out six and pitched around seven walks.
“I definitely had a strong fastball. I was just blowing it by them every time,” Bowie said. “I’ve probably pitched a total of two innings at most all season. My arm felt great.”
Bessey’s night at the plate was a flipflop from Locke Mills’.
The hosts waited out starter Izaak Mills for five walks and a hit batsman.
Four of those runners eventually scored, aided by a bad-hop infield error that plated a pair with two out in the bottom of the third.
Jordan Croteau singled and scored in the fifth to make it 5-0 against Field, Locke Mills’ third pitcher of the evening.
Field found a groove and held Bessey hitless after the sixth. He struck out five in his five innings.
“I got hurt last fall and I’m just coming back (to pitch),” Field said. “It takes me a few innings to warm up.”
Bowie, Ty Martin and Beauchesne joined Croteau with hits for Bessey.
Whitney was 2-for-3 with a pair of walks. Manning scored both the first run and the tying run for the Mountaineers.
koakes@sunjournal.com
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- Bessey Motors’ Dylan Cox slides out at second as Bethel-Locke Mills’ Izaak Mills attempts a double play with a throw to first during their game in Paris Tuesday evening. The game was suspended after the completion of the ninth inning with a score of 5-5. The game will be finished in 9 days in Bethel.
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- Bessey’s Andrew Rascoe pulls up after barely getting to third safely past the defenses of Bethel-Locke Mills’ Jeb Clarke in Paris Tuesday. The game was suspended after the completion of the ninth inning with a score of 5-5 and will be finished in 9 days in Bethel.
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- Bessey’s Nick Bowie backs up Andrew Rascoe as he makes a foul ball catch for an out in Paris Tuesday against Bethel-Locke-Mills. The game was suspended after the completion of the ninth inning with a score of 5-5 and will be finished in 9 days in Bethel.
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- Bethel-Locke Mills’ Kyle Peterson scrambles back to first past Bessey Motors’ Dalton Rice in Paris Tuesday. The game was suspended after the completion of the ninth inning with a score of 5-5 and will be finished in 9 days in Bethel.
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