The #6 seeded John Bapst Crusaders upended the #3 Ellsworth Eagles, 7-6 in a quarterfinal Eastern Maine Class B playoff game on Thursday.
It was not a great start for JB as they spotted Ellsworth 6 runs in the first 2 innings on 4 hits and 2 errors. Chris Hammond came out in the 3rd inning and gave up just two more hits over the final 5 innings to get his 4th win of the season.
Down 6-0 in the top of the third, JB's Jason McBurnie reached on a single. Ryan Carr walked. Bill Wetherbee followed with a double down the LF line to score McBurnie. Hammond grounded out to SS to score Carr. Adam Leadbetter singled in Wetherbee to make the score 6-3. BUT JB WAS NOT DONE. Matt Storgaard singled. Christie reached on a fielder's choice. Then Sean O'Donnell reached on a crucial error by the Ellsworth 3B-man that scored both Leadbetter and Christie (who scored avoiding a tag by the Ellsworth catcher). Bapst was within 1 run at the end of the inning, 6-5.
Ellsworth base hits were hard to come by the rest of the way thanks to some great defense and Hammond's ability to zone in and hit his spots.
After a nice 4-6-3 double play from Wardell-to-Carr-to-Leadbetter and a McBurnie catch on a foul ball right in front of the Eagle dugout,JB momentum kicked in and the determined Crusaders came up in the 4th inning to take the lead for good.
McBurnie hit a bomb to deep center field that the LF caught, tripped, then dropped for a 3-base error. Carr walked. Wetherbee walked. Then the "VZ KID" Adam Leadbetter doubled in both the tying and winning runs with his patented Leadbetter 'slice' to left field.
The rest of the game remained intense as neither team could muster any more offense.
Pitching to contact, Hammond kept the Eagle bats at bay and the defense was stellar.
Matt Storgaard made a nice running catch into the R-CF gap during the 7th inning to squelch any kind of rally by Ellsworth.

Final stats: Carr- 2 walks, 1 run scored. Wetherbee- single, double, walk, 2 runs, rbi. Hammond- rbi and great game pitched! Leadbetter- single, double, 3 rbi (including tying and game-winner) 1 run scored. Storgaard- single, great 'D' in CF. Christie- FC, walk, run scored.
O'Donnell- FC and reached on an error. Andrews- Walk, McBurnie- strong game at 3B including a 'heads-up' run down in 6th inning, scored 2 runs, and reached base twice with a single and 3-base error. (That's why you run them out!)
Lucas Wardell also had a great defensive game at 2B, starting a big double play and ending the game with a nice catch in short RF!
Bapst will now head to Bucksport to take on the rival Bucks on Saturday at 4:00 for a semi-final matchup.
Boys shoud be at school at 12:45 for hitting. Bus leaves for Bucksport at 1:30.
Let's get some fans there to cheer on our Crusaders! Good luck, boys!