BIDDEFORD — It’s the sidecar perched on the edge of the milk shake glass, the gravy reservoir in the potatoes, the cost of living raise on top of the hefty bonus.
The American Legion Zone 5 championship won by Advanced Tech of Biddeford, Thursday, was all of that and more, coming as it did on the heels of their regular season crown.
With it, Advanced Tech earned a spot in next week’s state championship tournament, thanks to their 2-1 Zone 5 championship game win over Kennebunk at St. Louis Field.
“It’s nice,” said Advanced Tech starter Trevor Fleurent, who hurled seven strong innings. “We’ll get a couple days of rest.”
Advanced Tech will next play Wednesday (10 a.m.) against an as yet to be determined opponent, when the tourney gets underway at the CARA Complex in Augusta.
Kennebunk, as zone runner-up, still has more baseball ahead.
However it’ll have to win Saturday (11 a.m.) in a play-in game — against the Zone 3 runner up at CARA — to earn a second straight trip to the state tournament.
“We’re not dead yet,” said Kennebunk manager Bob Nutter. “It’s going to be a little tougher. But we’re still alive.”
Both teams were vying for their first Zone 5 title, and it was still up for grabs when Advanced Tech shortstop Scott Callahan snared Matt Dube’s liner for the final out.
With Fleurent and Kennebunk righthander Schuyler Donovan locked in a pitcher’s duel, offense figured to be in short supply.
Kennebunk took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth, after Fleurent found himself mired in a bases-loaded, none out jam.
The run scored when Robbie Nutter scampered home on a pitch in the dirt.
However, Fleurent danced out of further trouble by retiring the next three hitters.
“I got them to pop out,” said Fleurent.“Kept the ball in the infield.”
The failure by Kennebunk to exploit the situation further proved to be its downfall.
“That was a turning point,” said Nutter. “We tried to break it open, there, but we didn’t. That hurt us.”
Advanced Tech scored both its runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Fleurent got the top seed rolling by pulling Donovan’s first pitch of the inning down the left field line for a double.
He said he went to the plate in an aggressive frame of mind.
“I’m not much of a ”˜take pitch’ guy,” Fleurent said. “If I see a pitch I like, I’m swinging at it.”
Callahan followed suit, singling in Fleurent with the tying run.
Callahan later made his way to third, then scored the go-ahead tally when Kennebunk catcher Bobby Rollins was unable to corral an offering by Donovan.
Reliever Nate Cadorette came in for Fleurent in the top of the eighth and blanked Kennebunk for two innings to close out the win.
“We’ve had games where we’ve outscored people,” said Ad Tech manager Casey Roy, “and we’ve had pitching duels. All year, we’ve been able to find a way. When the last out is made, we’ve been able to be on top, more often than not.”
— Contact Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com.
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