Motor City drives away with victory over Navigators
By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer
DOVER-FOXCROFT — With a no-hitter over the Northern Lumber squad earlier in the American Legion season already on his resume, Motor City pitcher Tyler Neville loomed as a potential challenge for the Penquis Navigators when he took the mound for a July 12 contest.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
JUST BACK AT THE BAG — Base runner Evan Pelkey of Motor City is ruled safe as he gets to the bag before Navigator third baseman Caleb Richard during a July 12 American Legion game at Foxcroft Academy (as Penquis pitcher Cody Caruso looks on). A complete game, four-hitter by Motor City pitcher Tyler Neville helped the team win 7-0.
While Neville did not throw another game with the hit total at zero, he and the Motor City defense did limit the Navigators to just four hits. Motor City allowed only seven batters to get on base, four more than the minimum that could be mathematically yielded in a seven-inning contest. The team comprised of players from the Bangor Christian School, John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor and Old Town and Orono high schools gave Neville seven runs to accompany his complete game shutout for a 7-0 victory.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
ONE-HAND CATCH BY NO. 1 — Hunter Law gets ready to catch the baseball for the final out of the top of the sixth on July 12.
The best chance for Penquis (who fell to 8-8) to get on the scoreboard came during the team’s final trip to the plate. Hunter Law led off by redirecting a Neville pitch toward first base, and he got to the bag as Motor City (who improved to 11-6 on the season) could not scoop the ball out of the dirt in time.
Brandon Spratt followed by singling up the middle to put a pair of base runners on, and give the Navigators the team’s second runner of the game in scoring position.
Neville responded by recording a pair of strikeouts, he tallied a game-high five, to quickly put two outs on the scoreboard. The Motor City hurler then had a pitch sail into the batter’s box where it came into contact with Cody Caruso, who was awarded at trip down the line to first base by the umpire.
Aron Smested came up with the bases loaded and two outs, and he swung and made contact on the first pitch of the at-bat. The baseball began to fall in front of second base, where a diving catch on the infield grass became out No. 3 and the final play of the game.
Caruso
Caruso got the start on the mound for Penquis, and he tossed the first six innings. Tristan French came on in the top of the seventh with a man at second base, and, after an RBI-double, a strikeout, fielder’s choice and tag of the runner finished the day in the field for the Navigators.
French