Ashland, CA girls make post-season
Sports Editor
The regular season has come to a close for area softball teams, but two of the five local squads will keep playing as they have earned spots in the upcoming playoffs, starting Wednesday.
Ashland and Central Aroostook have all earned berths in the regional playoffs, while Presque Isle, Fort Fairfield and Washburn will have to wait until next year.
In Eastern Class B, Presque Isle (7-9, 60.9375) was 11th and one slot out of the playoff picture. In Eastern Class D, Central Aroostook (10-6, 40.8147) was fifth in the region and Ashland (8-7, 40.3810) was sixth. Both have earned spots in the playoffs. Fort Fairfield (4-12, 17.3754) finished 12th and Washburn (0-16, no points) was tied for last with Schenck (0-16). Neither the Tigers nor Beavers qualified for postseason play.
Limestone-MSSM hosts Ashland in the quarterfinals, 4 p.m. Wednesday. The two are no strangers, having played twice during the regular season. The Eagles beat Ashland 30-6 in the season opener, but had a much tighter game in their second matchup, a game the Eagles won 2-0.
Central Aroostook travels to No. 4 Katahdin (13-2, 70.2183) 2:30 p.m. Wednesday for a quarterfinal clash. The two squads did not face each other during the regular season.
Results from the final regular season games played June 2 were:
East Grand 18, Washburn 4 — At East Grand, Meghan Saucier tallied the lone hit for the Beavers, as Washburn was unable to secure a win in its final game of the season. Saucier also scored two of the team’s for runs on the day.
For East Grand, Kaitlyn Beaudoin had a grand slam and two singles, with five RBIs. She also pitched her team to victory, striking out nine Washburn batters. Elisha Farley added two singles and two RBIs for East Grand.
Presque Isle 15, Caribou 11 — At Caribou, Wildcat Chandler Guerette had two singles, a double and scored four runs as Presque Isle held off Caribou. The win was not enough to lift the Wildcats into a playoff berth.
“Presque Isle jumped out to a 9-0 lead after they hit in the top of the third, but to give us some credit, we didn’t quit,” Caribou coach Ryan Deprey said. “We came back and outscored them 11 to 6 the rest of the way, but spotting a team that good nine runs is never a good idea.”
For the Wildcats, Krista Coffin had three singles and a two-run double and also struck out eight inside the pitching circle. Kayla Richards added three singles and two runs. Other Presque Isle hitters were: Jenna Stephenson (double, a run), Alecia Palmer (single, 2 runs), Amy Grivois (double, run), Kelsey Parks (single, 2 runs) and Alicia Kierstead (2 singles, 2 runs).
For Caribou, Brittany Doak led the way with a double and two singles. Jamie Martin and Ashley Doucette both singled three times. Other Caribou hitters were: Jordyn Doucette (2 singles, run), Rebecca McDougal (single, double, 3 runs), Danielle Violette (2 singles, run), Danielle Soucy (single) and Emily Staples (single).
Central Aroostook 27, Wisdom 10 — At St. Agatha, Rachel Grew hit four singles and scored three runs as Central Aroostook defeated Wisdom. Brianna Hartin added a double and two singles for the Panthers. Hayley Cyr homered with two singles for the Pioneers.
Staff photo/Kevin Sjoberg
KAYLA COTE of the Ashland Hornets gets ready to release the ball for a pitch during a regular season meeting against Limestone-MSSM. The two teams will meet again in the Eastern Maine Class D quarterfinals, to be played this afternoon at 4 p.m. in Limestone.
