’Cats and Panthers are playoff bound
Sports Reporter
Two local baseball teams have made the playoffs and both finished high enough in the standings to host quarterfinals games.
The Presque Isle Wildcats are the No. 4 team in Eastern Maine Class B and take on No. 5 Camden Hill this afternoon at 4:15 p.m. at the James E. Dyer Field. Presque Isle finished with an 11-5 record and 108.2031 tournament index points. The Windjammers come into the game at 12-4 and a 105.2734 tournament index.
The Central Aroostook Panthers are the second seed in EM Class D and meet up against the No. 7 Machias Bulldogs Thursday at 2 p.m. at the CAHS diamond. The Panthers went 13-3 on the season and own a tournament index of 75.0279. Machias went 6-7 on the regular season.
Not qualifying for the post-season from The Star-Herald coverage area were Fort Fairfield (11th place, 20.1488 tournament index), Ashland (3-12, 9.9702) and Washburn (3-13, 6.3802).
A look at the two teams qualifying for the post-season follows:
The ’Cats and their coach, Tim Olore, are excited to have the opportunity to be the home team for their first-round matchup against who Olore knows will be a formidable opponent.
“Their top six players hit well and they play good team defense,” Olore said, “but I think we match up well and if we are playing our game, we can play with them and anyone else.
The Wildcats have a strong senior group with all eight part of the starting lineup.
“They have been with me throughout high school and many as far back as T-ball,” said Olore, who included manager Jordyn Kinney in the group. “They are dedicated to the program, are successful in whatever they do, work hard at improving their skills, love baseball and are excellent citizens and very good student athletes.
“Their leadership, starting with the captains (Brennen Shaw, Matt Chasse and Steven Ford), has guided this team through the preseason, regular season and now into the playoffs. This team wants to seize this opportunity.”
Presque Isle was just 2-2 following its first four games, all played on the road, but then rebounded to outscore the next three opponents by a 29-1 margin. Except for a loss to John Bapst in the first game of a doubleheader and getting swept at home by Bucksport, the Wildcats were victorious in the rest of their contests.
“From the preseason until now, the team has worked extremely hard on all the fundamentals, backups, cutoffs and defensive situations,” Olore said. “This home playoff game has been a while coming and the team deserves it. They want to seize the opportunity.”
Offensively, seven players are batting over .333, led by Shaw’s .525 average. He also has scored 27 runs, knocked in 16 and has hit three home runs. Zac Campbell comes in at .388 with 18 runs and 15 RBIs, Ford has hit .377 with 21 runs and 16 RBIs, Dillon Kingsbury batted .370 with 18 runs and 20 RBIs, Chasse .342 with 20 runs and 13 RBIs, Isaac LaJoie .340 with 15 runs and 16 RBIs and Amos Dean .333 with 13 runs and eight RBIs.
Braley (.283), Wilder York (.235) and Eaton are the other regulars.
On the pitching side, Shaw went 5-1 with a 4.50 earned run average and 59 strikeouts in 32 innings of work. Kingsbury (4-0, 2.82 ERA), Chasse (1-3, 2.90 ERA) and Ehtan Braley (1-1, 2.71 ERA) have also contributed on the mound.
The Panthers enter the playoffs having lost two of their last three games, but coach Brent York said those blemishes could actually be beneficial.
CA dropped a 14-5 decision at Madawaska and then fell 10-8 to Wisdom in St. Agatha in its regular season finale. Defensively, York said the team struggled and offensively ran up against strong pitching performances by the Owls’ Deejay Gendreau and the Pioneers’ Curtis Picard.
“These losses, though frustrating, actually will help us as we focus on the playoffs,” York said. “I think the team realizes that winning from this point forward will involve defensive consistency and more focus on hitting to advance runners.”
York expects a challenging quarterfinal matchup, but “if we can eliminate the errors and our pitching remains solid, we can advance,” York said.
The staff’s ace pitchers are junior Logan McLaughlin (5-2, 2.68 ERA) and senior Kasey Brewer (3-0, 2.71 ERA). They have logged the most innings and will be depended upon during the post-season. Mitch Folsom, Dan Brewer and Brendan York are the team’s other pitchers.
McLaughlin leads the CA offense with a .561 batting average, two homers and 30 RBIs. Kasey Brewer (.512, five homers, 29 RBIs), York (.512), Dan Brewer (.491) and Folsom (.382, three homers, 15 RBIs) are the team’s other top hitters.
Summaries of games played last week to wrap up the regular season follow:
Washburn 11, East Grand 10 – At Washburn last Wednesday, Nick Bragg’s two-run double capped a six-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning that lifted the Beavers over the Vikings for their third victory.
Bragg finished with two doubles, a single and three RBIs, Justin Howe added a triple and single and Kyle and Jordan McLaughlin posted two singles each for the Beavers.
Wisdom 10, Central Aroostook 8 – At St. Agatha last Wednesday, Curtis Picard struck out 12 in the complete-game performance as the Pioneers prevailed.
Logan McLaughlin had a home run, a double, a single and four RBIs to lead the Panthers.
Presque Isle 8, Caribou 5 – At Caribou last Wednesday, Steve Ford’s RBI double and Dillon Kingsbury’s RBI single highlighted a three-run seventh that gave the Wildcats the victory in a game that was delayed 90 minutes due to lightning and rain.
Ethan Braley’s fielder’s choice grounder accounted for PI’s final run in the seventh.
Nathaniel Kamm paced Caribou with an inside-the-park home run that produced three runs. He also had an RBI double.
CAHS 17, Fort Fairfield 7 – Last Tuesday in Mars Hill, Kasey Brewer drove in nine runs with a three-run home run, a two-run double, a grand slam and a single to power Central Aroostook by Fort Fairfield.
Brendan York hit three singles and drove in a run for the Panthers while Dan Brewer hit two singles and a double.
Josh Churchill paced Fort Fairfield with a three-run home run and a single, while Josh Booth added a two-run homer and a single.
Staff photo/Kevin Sjoberg
KASEY BREWER of the Central Aroostook Panthers fires a pitch during a regular season contest last month. Brewer has been a key both on the mound and at the plate for the Panthers, who take on Machias in the EM Class D baseball quarterfinals Thursday at 2 p.m. in Mars Hill.
