UPDATE: The defending state and Northeast Region champions knocked Boothbay out of the Maine American Legion tournament on Monday. The Trenton Acadians scored 10 runs in the first inning and defeated Boothbay, 11-1, in Bangor. 

Boothbay 36ers were scheduled to play the defending Northeast Region Senior American Legion baseball champions Monday at 1 p.m. in Bangor. The 36ers split their two weekend games setting up a Day 3 matchup versus Trenton (Hancock County) Acadians at Mansfield Stadium. For the 36ers, the team is competing against the state’s best in the eight-team double elimination tournament.

On Saturday, Boothbay took an early 2-0 lead before Quirk Motors of Hampden erupted for seven runs in the third and four more in the fourth and fifth innings to earn a 15-3 victory. On Sunday, the 36ers rebounded with a come-from-behind victory of their own. The Old Town-Orono Twins took an early 3-0 lead, but in the bottom of the third, the 36ers rallied for five runs enroute to a 5-4 victory. “It’s pretty awesome being here at the tournament, and we’re about to play the defending Northeast Region champions,” Boothbay coach Adam Harkins said. 

In the 36ers’ victory, Liam Jacobs turned in a stellar relief pitching performance. Jacobs pitched four innings and didn’t allow any runs, gave up one hit, with no walks and eight strikeouts. Harkins tapped Jacobs to pitch to give the Twin batters a new look. “We had trouble in the field so I wanted more strikeouts,” Harkins said. “Before the game, I told Liam, ‘You  have two pitches: fast and faster. And that’s what he threw except for an occasional slider. It was the best I’ve seen him pitch.”

On offense, the 36ers relied on small ball. A suicide squeeze was the big play in the five-run third inning rally. The Twins had a pitching conference when Harkins called for the squeeze. “We had runners on second and third and I told TMac (Taygen McAllister) to bunt. He did it perfectly. The run scored just after the bunt, Maddox (Cusumano) reached third, and Taygen was safe at first,” he said.