Panther girls ousted in semis
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
MARS HILL — Central Aroostook’s playoff dreams of making it to the Eastern Class D championship were dashed Saturday as the No. 3 Panthers were blanked 6-0 by No. 2 Deer Isle-Stonington in the semifinals.
CAHS finishes its season with a 15-3 record, while DIS improves to 16-2 and faced No. 5 Ashland (11-6) in the Eastern Class D championship Tuesday evening.
In Saturday’s semifinal, CAHS could not solve the riddle of Mariner hurler Sydney Ouzts, who twirled a three-hit shutout, striking out 12, with two walks for Deer Isle-Stonington. Ouzts helped her own cause by hitting a pair of singles, while Chelsea Brown had a double and single.
Rachael Grew, Kristen Long and Page Fletcher each singled for the Panthers.
“Deer Isle was the best team we played all season,” Panther coach Ryan Guerrette said. “They played very good defense and had a very good pitcher. She threw hard and mixed speeds very well.
Staff Photo/Joseph Cyr
COACH’S CONFERENCE —CAHS coach Ryan Guerrette speaks to Michaela King prior to her at-bat.
“I’m proud of the way my team played all season,” Guerrette added. “We just couldn’t get anything going against their pitcher. We will be returning all but one player next season. I think the success that we have had this season will spill over into the next.”
The Panthers’ lone senior — Long — had a busy two days coming in to Saturday’s semifinal. On Friday evening, she graduated from CAHS, followed by Project Graduation until 12:30 a.m., Guerrette said. The Panther bus left Mars Hill at 7:30 a.m. Saturday for the four-plus hour drive to Deer Isle-Stonington.
“Kristen is the ultimate competitor and I knew she would be ready on Saturday,” he said. “She pitched her best game of the season, scattering nine hits and walking just one. She did a great job of battling all game. I can’t say enough about her. She had a great senior season and a great career at CAHS. You can’t replace players like her. She does all the things you need to do to win.”
Quarterfinal victory
Last Wednesday, the Panthers played a back-and-forth game with visiting Shead in the quarterfinals. The No. 6 Tigers of Eastport (10-7 overall) and Panthers did not face one another during the regular season, so coach Guerrette and the rest of the CA squad came into the game facing an unknown.
What was known, however, is just how good the Panthers are at stroking the ball as CAHS bashed 11 hits en route to the 7-5 victory. Paige Garrison led the team with a double and single, while Long. Page Fletcher and Whitney Klein each added a pair of singles. Chipping in with one hit apiece were Michaela King (double) and Megan King and Stephanie Dame, both with a single.
Staff Photo/Joseph Cyr
YOU’RE OUT — Central Aroostook catcher Michaela King slaps the tag on Shead’s Kristi Conti at home plate in the top of the fourth inning of the June 8 softball quarterfinal.
For Shead, Vanessa Patterson had the hot stick as she bashed two triples and scored a run. Jenny Cushing added two singles, while Kristie Conti, Halie Harris and Dara Turner each had one single.
Long scattered five runs on seven hits and five walks, with three strikeouts for the Panthers. Her counterpart, Randi DeWitt yielded seven runs on 11 hits and seven walks, with two strikeouts for Shead.
After a scoreless first, CAHS took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when Garrison wrapped a hit to center field that the rolled under the fence for a ground-rule double. A sacrifice bunt by Fletcher moved Garrison to third and she scored on a sacrifice squeeze bunt by Megan King.
Shead erupted for five runs in the top of the fifth inning to take a 5-1 lead, but that proved short-lived as the Panthers countered with six runs of their own in the home-half of the inning.
When his team was facing a 5-1 deficit, Guerrette said he kept his young players focused on the task at hand.
“We’ve scored 10-plus runs all year long, so I knew five runs was not going to beat us,” the coach said. “To the kids’ testament, they played well. We didn’t get down and then we started hitting the ball to make some things happen.”
The game ended in thrilling fashion. Clinging to a two-run lead, the Panthers relied on their defense to close out the contest. After a routine groundout to second to start the inning, the next two Shead batters reached via a bloop single and walk. A rare passed ball for the Panthers, allowed both Shead base runners to move to second and third.
Compounding the drama, the Tigers had their hottest hitter at the plate — Patterson — who had already ripped two triples in the game. Long was masterful with her pitches and induced Patterson into a slow grounder back to the mound. Long flipped the ball to Garrison at first base, who immediately fired the ball home to Michaela King, who slapped the tag on Tiger Cushing just before she reached the home plate for the double play.
“We’ve stressed defense all year long and it sure paid off today,” coach Guerrette said.
Staff photo/Gloria Austin
The coach added the head’s-up play by Garrison, playing first base for the injured Vicki McIntyre was crucial in the win over Shead.
“Paige is normally our left fielder, but with the injury to Vicki, she really stepped up,” Guerrette said. “Vicki was one of my best hitters, knocking in more than 40 runs this season.”
McIntyre pulled some tendons in her ankle in a game against Madawaska in late-May and was lost for the season.
The move to first base was not too difficult, Garrison said.
“I played first base in eighth grade, so I knew a little bit about the position,” she said. “We like to be upbeat and never get down on ourselves. It’s been that way all year.”
