CARIBOU — Caribou Little League kicked off its 46th season with an Opening Day Ceremony Saturday followed by four games.
Aroostook Republican photo/Jon Gulliver
Caribou Little Leaguers look on as team introductions were about to take place during the season’s opening ceremony held on Saturday. This is the 46th year for the Caribou Little League. Following the ceremony the first four games of the spring were played.
During the Opening Ceremonies, all league players and coaches were introduced onto the Robert White Field after an address from Caribou Little League President Brian Massey.
The City of Caribou Fire Department Color Guard led by Captain Lance Longley presented the flags and Caribou High School senior Morgan Swan sang the National Anthem.
The Peter J. Ouellette and Caribou Little League Scholarships were awarded to Caleb Chapman and Jamie Martin, who will both receive a plaque and $200 scholarship.
Finally, the ceremonial first pitch was thrown by Raymond McCrea, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran representing the Maine Veteran’s Home of Caribou, which is a new sponsor of the Caribou Little League.
After Opening Ceremonies, four games took the stage, kicking off a summer of baseball.
Here’s a recap of the opening weekend games:
Shop ‘N Save 16, Bank of Maine 5 — Shop & Save came up with a nine-run second inning on their way to a 16-5 victory over Bank of Maine.
Tristan Mancos and Evan Burgay each had two hits and RBI-triples to lead the Shop ‘N Save attack. Parker Deprey, Kerrigan Manter and Carter Conley had two hits apiece.
On the mound for Shop ‘N Save, Caleb Brown pitched four shut-out innings of one-hit ball to earn the victory. Conley and Deprey finished off the game.
For Bank of Maine, Benoit Levesque had a two-RBI single.
Pitching for Bank of Maine were starter Brennan Poitras, who tossed 2 2/3 innings and Marcus Caudill, who went 3 1/3 innings.
Sleepers 10, Key Bank 6 — Sleepers team opened their 2012 season by giving up six runs to Key Bank in just the first two innings, but came back to win.
Key Bank was lead by Noah Frost and Riley Bossie who combined to go 4 for 4 in the first two innings.
Sleepers settled down over the next four innings outscoring Key Bank 7 to 0. Cole Jackson led Sleepers with a double, triple and two walks and drove in four runs. Hayden Hunter had his first hit of his Little League career and finished the game 2 for 3.
Northstars 12, Knights of Columbus 9 — The Northstars and the Knights of Columbus battled back and forth early on until the Northstars’ bats came alive for seven runs in the fourth inning lifting the Northstars to a 12-9 victory.
The Knights attacked early with Gabe Rand and Kyle Soeteart-Beaulier scoring on singles.
The Northstars responded with four quick runs plated by singles from Alex Bouchard and Austin Findlen.
The lead kept changing between the two teams, but the Norstars plated 12 for the eventual win.
Bouchard got the win for the Northstars.
Rand singled three times for the Knights of Columbus.
VFW 10, Woodland Eagles 1 — (Recap was not available at presstime.)
For upcoming game schedules and more results, visit www.CaribouLittleLeague.org.
