Hard to believe that it has been four years since Bessey Motors appeared in the American Legion baseball state tournament.
The Oxford Hills-based team doesn’t need a reminder and wasn’t about to let the small matter of a play-in game interfere Saturday afternoon.
Bessey banged out 14 hits to back the complete-game pitching of Mike Mageles in an 11-1 rout of Saco’s Fayette-Staples at Winkin Complex in Bangor.
“We’ve been in the play-in game a few times,” Bessey Motors coach Shane Slicer said. “It’s been a while since we’ve been to the tournament at all.”
They’ll be back for the double-elimination portion of the program, beginning at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday against Post 51 (Messalonskee).
Ty Martin had three hits and two RBIs for Bessey Motors, including a run-scoring single in a four-run rally that ended the game via mercy rule in the eighth inning. All tournament games are scheduled for nine.
Nick Attaliades-Ryan, Matt Smith, Zach Conley and Nick Bowie each added two hits for the Zone 3 regular-season champions.
“It’s nice to get a win,” Slicer said. “Another thing that’s great about the tournament is that six of the eight teams are from Eastern Maine.”
Bessey scored two runs on four walks without the benefit of a hit against Fayette-Staples starter Drew Gelinas in the first.
Bowie’s double and singles by Dalton Rice and Attaliades-Ryan made it 4-0 in the bottom of the second.
Mageles shut out Fayette-Staples until the sixth.
“He only had two strikeouts, but he pitched a quality game, for sure,” Slicer said.
Bessey put it away with another run in the sixth and two more in the seventh before closing it out in the eighth.
Ben Lambert had two hits for Fayette-Staples (12-9).
Bessey was eliminated by eventual champion Gayton Post in its most recent state tournament appearance in 2010.
Wednesday’s game will be a chance for Bessey to avenge its June loss in the Class A East semifinals.
“We beat them once during the regular season, but they’ve knocked us out a few times now,” Slicer said. “It would be (Riley) Chickering’s chance to start, but they’ve seen us so many times. I’m not sure what I’m going to do.”
Franklin 4, Westbrook 1
BANGOR — Colton Lawrence pitched a complete game and Franklin County turned a double play in the ninth inning to seal a 4-1 victory over Westbrook in an American Legion state tournament play-in game at Winkin Complex.
Franklin County of Zone 2 will face Zone 3 champion Pastime Club of Lewiston at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in the double-elimination bracket.
Andrew Pratt had two hits, including a first-inning RBI single, and scored two runs for the Flyers.
Jay Chenard and Amos Herrin also drove in runs for Franklin. Lawrence struck out six while scattering five hits.
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