Staples dominates on mound for Vikings
The game of high school girls fastpitch softball takes on different forms in different places. The majority of strong softball teams, however, tend to play a style referred to as “small ball”. Small ball consists of matching up strong pitching, strong defense, and opportunistic hitting and base running to win games by close margins.
jMavor Photography photo
Caribou junior pitcher Emily Staples celebrates with coach Ryan Deprey after recording the final out in last Tuesday’s win over Belfast. The Vikes upset two more opponents to reach the EM finals.
This describes to a T the amazing run that Caribou High School has made on its way to the 2011 Eastern Maine Championship.
On the pitching side, sophomore standout Emily Staples was solid all season, but has really ramped it up in post-season play. In their three playoff victories, Staples numbers are amazing: 45 strikeouts, 6 walks, 12 hits and two runs allowed in 23 innings of work.
On the defensive side, Caribou has committed just five errors in the three post-season games. Three of them came in the preliminary round home game against Belfast and led to no runs, while a single error against Medomak Valley led to no runs and a single error in the Old Town game led to a single run.
With regards to opportunistic hitting, Caribou has bunted, slap hit, stolen and sacrifice flied their way to 2-0, 1-0 and 4-2 margins of victory.
“With the quality of pitching we are facing, we realized that you have to take advantage of the scoring opportunities you get,” stated sixth-year head coach Ryan Deprey. “And with the way Emily (Staples) is pitching, it’s not going to take a lot of runs to get a win.”
This formula carried them into last night’s Eastern Maine final against third-seeded Bucksport.
jMavor Photography photo
Sare Damboise puts the tag on a Belfast baserunner for an out in last Tuesday’s 2-0 victory.
The Vikings started their playoff run last Tuesday against the ninth-seeded Belfast Lions. This game was a rematch of last year’s prelim game in which Belfast traveled to Caribou and upset the higher-seeded Vikings.
“Last year’s game left a bad taste in our mouth” stated Deprey.
After a 1-2-3 defensive half to start the game, Caribou put a run on the board in the bottom half of the first. Sophomore Anesha Hershey walked, stole second, advanced to third on a past ball and scored on a sacrifice fly by Tia McHatten to make it 1-0.
The Vikings connected for another run in the second, after again shutting the Lions down in their half. Centerfielder Jamie Martin singled, stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a single by Danielle Violette.
With a 2-0 lead, pitcher Emily Staples took control.
“Kristen Plante (catcher) has done a great job calling the game,” stated Staples, “and as well as the defense is playing, I know I can go after the hitters.”
Staples kept the Lions off balance, changing speeds and locations frequently. On the rare occasion that Belfast was able to get a bat on the ball, the Caribou defense rose to the challenge. Belfast made its final serious charge in the top of the seventh, a hit and a rare Caribou error followed by a stolen base put runners on second and third with just one out. Staples bore down and got a strikeout and a pop fly out to end the game.
The next game on Thursday saw the Vikings travel to Waldoboro to face the No. 1-seeded Medomak Valley Panthers. Scoring opportunities were few and far between. Both Staples and Medomak pitcher Desiree Benner allowed only three hits each.
Caribou got its break in the fifth inning. With two outs, Sare Damboise reached and advanced on a tough shot to center field which the Panther fielder was unable to handle. Viking junior first baseman Rebecca McDougal followed that up with a clutch RBI double, driving in Damboise.
jMavor Photography photo
Jamie Martin gets ready to make contact on a pitch during the playoff game against Belfast. Martin recorded a single and went on to score a run in the 2-0 victory.
Medomak had two quality chances – including runners on second and third with one out in the fourth, but Staples dug deep and struck out the next two batters to get out of the inning. Staples finished the contest with 16 strikeouts and allowing only one walk.
“We lost a few players after the Belfast game,” explained Staples, “but we new if the 10 (remaining players) of us stuck together, we’d have a chance. We did what we had to to pull out the win.”
Deprey confirmed that five players had quit the team following last Tuesday’s victory.
On Saturday, the Vikings traveled to Old Town to face the fourth-seeded Coyotes. Old Town swept the regular season meetings 13-1, and 6-1, but Caribou went into the game confident.
“We talked about how tough it is to beat a good team three times,” stated Coach Deprey. “We also felt good about how we have been playing, so we were confident we had a chance.”
Caribou got on the board early in the top of the first with two runs on a Hersey single and doubles by Tia McHatten and Plante. Old Town answered back with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame on a walk to Meaghan Cousins, steals of second and third and scoring on a rare Caribou error. The score stayed 2-1 until the bottom of the fourth. Old Town again displayed great team speed. Annie Cashon lead off with a walk, and was pinch run for by Samantha Milton. Milton stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a bunt single by McKayla Gastia, tying the game at two.
Old Town had chances to pull ahead in both the sixth and seventh innings, as they had a runner at third base with one out in both frames. Fortunately for the Vikings, Staples and the defense held to send the game to extra frames. After an uneventful eighth, the Caribou squad put two runs on the board in the top of the ninth.
With two outs and two strikes, Staples helped her own cause by reaching with a single. Anesha Hersey followed with another single setting the stage for third baseman Jordan Doucette, who made the most of the opportunity and doubled over Old Town centerfielder Cousins’ head, driving in both Staples and Hersey.
jMavor Photography photo
Jamie Martin scores the second run of the game during the second inning of last Tuesday’s home game against Belfast.
With a 4-2 lead, Staples came out in the bottom of the ninth, striking out the first batter, and inducing the next two into groundouts to finish out the game.
“We played hard as a team, and won it together,” stated Staples who finished with 14 strikeouts.
“We keep doing what we have to to win,” stated coach Deprey. “The girls are focused and making plays at the right time.”
The next challenge was the third-seeded Bucksport Golden Bucks. Caribou faced them Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Coffin Field in Brewer for the Eastern Maine title.
Caribou was last in the EM final in 1990 under coach Verna Johnson.
“We are excited to be there,” stated Deprey. “They are a very good team, and we will have to play our best ball. The girls are confident. We have a lot of momentum working for us right now, and they are really coming together as a team.”
Staples echoed the sentiment.
“We are a little nervous,” Staples explained, “but we’ve put in the work. We’ll do our best and see what happens.”
