Tigers bunt, steal, run their way to victory, berth in East semifinal

By GARY HAWKINS
Staff Writer

Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

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	Staff photo by Joe Phelan enlarge Gardiner's Stefan Black celebrates a run scored by teammate Mike Burdin during first inning of the Tigers Eastern A quarterfinal playoff game against Hampden Academy on Thursday afternoon on Hoch Field in Gardiner. Black was caught stealing in rundown between first and second, but was able to stay alive long enough to allow Burdin to score from third.
	Staff photo by Joe Phelan enlarge Gardiner's Brandon Lebourdais, top, tries to jump over Hampden first baseman Chris Pease as Pease fields a bunt along the first baseline.

GARDINER -- The Gardiner baseball team played small ball Thursday and came up big against one the state's best high school pitchers in the opening round of the Eastern Maine Class A tournament.

Successful bunts, one a suicide squeeze, heads-up baserunning, and Stefan Black's clutch fourth-inning single led the top-seeded Tigers to an 8-1 win over No. 8 Hampden Academy.

If that wasn't enough, Gardiner had junior Mike Burdin to fall back on. The slender right-hander nearly pitched his sixth shutout of the season as he ran his season record to 8-0. He allowed three hits, walked two, struck out five and was supported by an errorless defense.

The Tigers, 14-3, will host No. 5 Edward Little on Saturday while Hampden finishes its season at 12-6.

Despite their seeding, the Broncos are a dangerous team with Pat Moran on the mound. The 6-foot-3 senior throws a mid-80s fastball and will play for the University of Maine next year. The Tigers attacked him methodically, playing for a run at a time.

"We spent an hour-and-a-half yesterday bunting and squeezing," Gardiner coach Jim Palmer said. "But we did it all year through."

The Tigers scored a run in the first inning when Burdin reached on an infield single, and with two outs scored when he and Black worked a first-and-third rundown play with Burdin scoring before Black was tagged out.

"We worked on that a number of hours in practice," Black said.

The game stayed that way until the Broncos tied it in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Chris Pease. Burdin escaped what could have been a big inning when he picked Billy Shannon off second base for the first out and freshman shortstop Kyle Stilphen made a nice play on a slow roller by Kevin Brooks for the second.

"Getting out of that inning was a momentum shifter," Burdin said.

The Tigers scored three runs in the fifth and four in the sixth, really with only two hard-hit balls. They also shook up the Broncos defense, forcing three of their five errors in those innings.

Nick Acheson opened the fifth by getting hit by a pitch then leadoff batter Brandon Lebourdais reached on an error. Burdin bunted the runners over and Hampden coach Dave Shapiro elected to walk Stilphen to load the bases. That brought Black to the plate and he drilled the first pitch into left field to score two runs.

"They walked Stilphen to get to me," Black said. "I had something to prove."

Tom Colby followed with a suicide squeeze to score Stilphen. The Tigers added four in the sixth inning on two more bunts, a Hampden error, Stilphen's single and Colby's sacrifice fly. The way Burdin was going, that was more than they needed.

"His curve was going that well," said Black, Gardiner's catcher. "It was just kind of spinning. But he was picking his spots with his fastball."

The Tigers turned a nifty 6-4-3 double play in the sixth and Black opened the seventh by making an outstanding catch of a foul popup up against the fence next to the Hampden dugout.

Gary Hawkins -- 621-5638

ghawkins@centralmaine.com