CUMBERLAND – Bonny Eagle and Greely traded blows in a double-header on Monday, the former taking the first game 9-3 and the latter taking the second game 9-1. The Scots moved every man in their lineup once around the bases in the first game, while Ranger Will Neleski posted a particularly strong performance in the second, crossing home four times.

“Obviously we were hitting,” said Greely head coach Glen Cyr of the difference between the first and second bouts. “We made contact in the first game where we didn’t make it in the second game. The first (Bonny Eagle) pitcher had a better curveball than the second pitcher, and most kids at this age, they’re fastball hitters…But we were (also) better on the bases; we were smart, ran the bases well…Errors, we didn’t have many errors in the second game; first game, I think we had four.”

“The first game was better,” said Bonny Eagle assistant coach Kelsey Phinney. “We just didn’t bring the same approach to the second game. The same attitude: upbeat, into it, positive. In the first game, we made good plays, made good defensive plays. Greely came out in the second game and played like they won the first game, and we didn’t.”

Bonny Eagle put up three in the first inning of the first game – Will Whyte, Cam Phinney and Jackson Beam all scored – to kick things off in style. They added two in the fourth (Koen Robida and Dan Ferrante), one in the fifth (Tyler Fitz) and three more in the seventh (Bailey Walker, Ethan Hamilton, and Ethan Scott). 

Meanwhile, Greely managed three in the fifth – one each from Nathan Cyr, Eben Kiesow and Connor Sullivan – but remained silent otherwise. 

Sullivan started on the mound for the Rangers, while Beam started for the Scots. Bailey Walker went 2-4 with a pair of singles for Bonny Eagle.

The second game proved a total reversal. Neleski scored for the Rangers in the first inning to spark the revenge rout. He scored again in the third, and yet again in the fourth – when AJ Eisenhart, Joe Cimino and Luke Miller also scored. Neleski, Nick Butler and Kiesow all rounded to home in the sixth.

The Scots’ lone run came in the seventh, a Phinney tally. 

Fitz began the second game on the mound for the Scots, Butler for the Rangers.

“I think the kids woke up,” Cyr said of his boys work in the second game. “They’re a little sluggish, they come out of work, they come in the afternoon and then they have to get into a groove. So the first game was kind of flat. The second game, obviously, much better.”

Cyr took a moment to laud some of his boys. “Honestly, in the first game, not many of them played very well at all,” he said, chuckling. “But in the second game, I thought Will Neleski did very well; he was 3-4, had an RBI, was on base, scored four runs. Sophomore Nick Butler, he was 4-5, he had four singles and an RBI, so he did really well. AJ Eisenhart was really good on the bases today. Nathan Cyr did really well; he was 1-2, and was on base quite a bit. Pitched for us, got about 75 pitches for us to finish the game.”

Kelsey Phinney also offered praise for a couple of his boys, despite the team’s defeat. “Tyler Fitz pitched well; he put the ball in play. Just, some of the plays we didn’t make, and some of them, Greely hit where we weren’t. We just didn’t get the bats going in the second game, so there wasn’t much to stand out, unfortunately…Koen Robida had a good day; he hit the ball solid all day.”

The teams are members of a new league, Regency Realty Southern Maine Baseball, established this year to help freshmen, sophomore and junior high school players in this part of the State develop in the off-season.

Adam Birt can be reached at abirt@keepmecurrent.com. Follow him on Twitter: @CurrentSportsME 

Nick Butler started on the mound for Greely in their 9-1 win over Bonny Eagle.

Luke Miller, at short for the Rangers, fields a Bonny Eagle grounder.

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