Staff Writer
Despite early morning rain on Saturday, the afternoon began warming up, along with Fort Fairfield and Limestone’s softball teams. The Lady Tigers traveled to take on the Lady Eagles in a semifinal Eastern Maine Class D softball playoff game.
Having split their regular season games, Saturday’s matchup proved to be exciting.
Eagle pitcher Jasmine Cote took the mound to start off the game and ended the top of the first with three up and three down. Pitching for Fort Fairfield was Kelsie York and Limestone’s first at-bat saw Kellie Peers move to second after singling and stealing. Victoria St. Pierre walked and stole second, moving Peers to third and putting two runners in scoring position for Stacy Bernier, who promptly knocked a homerun out of the park, giving LCS a first inning 3-0 lead. Fort Fairfield remained scoreless for the next three innings, leaving Amanda Hotham and Kelsie Wilson stranded in scoring positions.
Limestone’s next trip around home came in the third inning when St. Pierre, who doubled, round third on another double by Bernier.
Fort Fairfield struggled to remain composed as Limestone ended the inning but came back in the fourth with two more unearned runs as Mylie Denslow and Stephanie Leighton both stole home.
It seemed the Lady Tigers might rally in the top of the fifth as Katelyn Godin started off Fort Fairfield’s scoring by stealing home on a wild pitch and two more runs came in before the end of the inning. Still, the Lady Tigers trailed 6-3 heading into the bottom of the fifth, and, as six more runs came in from LCS, the game seemed to be decided. St. Pierre knocked a line drive through third and short and came home on a bunt by Chelsea Leighton that sent Bernier to third.
Tiger York walked Eagles Denslow and Amanda Allen and, on a passed ball, both C. Leighton and Bernier came home. Fort Fairfield’s Sarah Hebert grabbed a hit at shortstop and got the out at second to end the inning, but not before LCS had widened the gap to a 12-3 lead.
In the sixth, Fort Fairfield sent home two more runs after Wilson and York got on base. Amber Wasson walked to load the bases and both York and Kelly Lynch scored on a single from Courtney Churchill.
Now, down 12-5, the Tigers would have one more chance to tie the game or take the lead. But Limestone put an end to that possibility, driving in five runs in their sixth inning at-bat to take the win by the mercy rule.
Limestone’s first two runs in the sixth came off of a S. Leighton in-the-park home run which knocked in Bernier as well. The Limestone Lady Eagles played in the Eastern Maine Class D softball championship Tuesday afternoon in Brewer.
The Lady Tigers of Fort Fairfield secured their spot in a semifinal game on June 10 after defeating the Shead Tigers 9-7 in the quarterfinals. Down by four at the bottom of the sixth, Fort Fairfield's softball team rallied in six runs with Kelly Lynch singling three times and Kelsie York doubling and singling with an RBI. Contributing two singles each were Keslie Wilson, Katie Godin and Amanda Hotham.
Panthers fall to Shead Tigers
The Panthers traveled downstate Saturday to take on the Shead Tigers on Saturday for a semifinal game, but fell 5-4 to end their 2009 season. Central Aroostook’s final blow came in the third inning when Shead went on a three-run rally.
The Panthers earned their spot in the Class D semifinals by defeated Bangor Christian at home, 2-0 with the help of pitcher Logan McLaughlin who gave up five-hits but kept the Patriots scoreless.
The Panthers' first run came in the second inning as Brendan York hit and RBI double to sent home Manny Martinez, who had singled and stolen second. The next run came in the third inning off a hit b McLaughlin, who sent home Daniel Brewer. Brewer was walked to first and stole second.
Ashland’s season ends at DI
Ashland's baseball team was knocked out of the playoffs June 11, falling to Deer Isle-Stonington 12-2 in five innings. Ashland's only two hits and runs came in the fourth inning, but the Mariners had already sent home 11. Ashland's highlighted hit of the game came from Carl Nemer, who doubled.
The Lady Hornets fell June 11 to top-ranked Southern Aroostook, 7-6. Ashland took an early 3-2 lead in the second and responded again with three runs in the fifth, tying the game at six-all. But a sixth inning run for the Lady Warriors gave SAHS the final lead as Ashland headed home, out of the playoffs. The Lady Hornets had nine hits, including three singles from Suzie Poulin and a double and a single by Brooke LaBelle.
In a June 9 preliminary game against Bangor Christian, the Lady Hornets defeated BCS 9-2 in Bangor as Suzie Poulin recorded another win for Ashland. The Hornets scored a run in the first inning but fell behind in the second when BCS sent home two. A three-run, third inning rally gave Ashland the lead they needed and the Hornets added three more again in the fourth and two in the sixth for a total of nine runs and nine hits to Bangor Christian's two-run four-hitter. Anna Paradis had an RBI single and Andrea Mayo led the team with two singles, a double and three RBIs.
Staff photo/Abigail Hunt
TIGER AMANDA HOTHAM waits for a pitch of her choice from Eagle Jasmine Cote during Fort Fairfield’s semifinal game against Limestone. The Lady Tigers fell to the Lady Eagles 17-5 in six innings.
Staff photo/Abigail Hunt
LOGAN MCLAUGHLIN of Central Aroostook prepares to fire off a pitch at a Bangor Christian batter during the Panthers home game against the Patriots. McLaughlin pitched a no-hitter, leading Central Aroostook to a 2-0 win over BCS in the quarterfinals but fell to Shead 5-4 in the semis.
