Staff Writer
With an eighth place standing at the end of last season, the Fort Fairfield softball team focused more on basic building blocks of the sport. The 2008 team was led by first year coach Jamie Selfridge, who has come back for a second year.
“As a first year coach, [last year] was a building year. The girls came together and worked hard, pulling off key wins when necessary,” said Selfridge, who has spent time filling positions for pitcher, shortstop and third base as Shannon Towle, Maryl Shaw and Stacey McNamee all graduated.
On the mound is senior Kelsie York, junior Sarah Hebert and freshman Danielle Tracy. Senior Kelly Lynch will share time on first and third with junior Kelsie Wilson and junior Courtney Churchill will start as catcher. When not pitching, Hebert will field from short and senior Katie Godin will finish up the infield at second. Sophomore Amber Wasson will start as a centerfielder and Emily Weissman will see time in right field. Tracy will start at left field. Freshmen Autumn Coombs and Keegan Watt complete the team.
“We have a small team,” Selfridge admitted, “but the girls are extremely athletic and it allows any player to fill any position. We are focusing hard on our pitchers as well as situational plays, and focusing on making smart decisions.”
The Lady Tigers took a 24-22 win over the Lady Beavers in Washburn in their most recent game on May 8. Fort Fairfield led 10-1 at the bottom of the third, when Washburn knocked in four more runs to tighten the score. The Lady Tigers maintained the lead, despite the Beavers’ fifth-inning, five-run rally to bring the score to 16-14, Fort. At the top of the seventh, Amanda Hotham slugged a grand slam, batting in four of Fort Fairfield’s eight total points that inning. Courtney Churchill contributed four singles and a home run, crossing home five times and Kelly Lynch singled three times. Rebecca Campbell and Dakota Koch singled four times each for Washburn.
On a rainy afternoon last Wednesday, Central Aroostook and Fort Fairfield met up in Mars Hill to battle out a softball and baseball game. The teams split the games, with the Panther’s baseball team defeating the Tigers 2-0, and the Lady Tigers taking a 14-7 victory over the Lady Panthers.
The Panthers only had four hits, but made the most of their on-base opportunities. A single and double from Garrett Stiles and an RBI single from Kasey Brewer helped CAHS to their third season win.
Logan McLaughlin took the win on the mound with eight strikeouts, only allowing Fort Fairfield five hits. The Tigers, unable to score despite two singles from Brian Bixler and an Austin Dufour double, handed the loss to starting pitcher Ian Towle.
The Fort Fairfield and Central Aroostook softball teams played a game of back-and-forth, with the Lady Tigers rounding third early, scoring four runs in the fourth inning and two in the fifth. The Lady Panthers played catch-up, but tied the game by the end of the sixth inning. Fort rallied eight runs in during the top of the seventh, however, to boost them to a comfortable 14-6 lead and hand them their first win.
For the Tigers, Lynch contributed three singles, a double and three RBIs with Hotham and Churchill batting in one run each.
Kristen Long had four singles and three RBIs for the Panthers and Ashley Estabrook had two singles, while Vicki McIntyre hit one over the fence.
Photo courtesy of Maineline Studios
REPRESENTING THE LADY TIGERS are, front row, from left: Kelsie York, Katelyn Godin, Kelly Lynch, Sarah Hebert and Amanda Hotham. Second row: Autumn Coombs, Courtney Churchill, Kelsey Wilson and coach Jamie Selfridge. Back row: Danielle Tracy, Emily Weissman and Keegan Watt.
