BANGOR, Maine — Fifteen minutes after being handed the pitching loss in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Greely of Cumberland in the Class B state championship game at Mansfield Stadium, Caribou senior righthander Sean Sadler could only reflect on his team’s improbable run to get to that point.
“I wish we could have gone one more, but I appreciate everything that happened,” he said. “We had great fans who were behind us all year, a good group of seniors who had played together for 10 years and a lot of new guys who have done more than I expected.
“From our very first practice this year, coach asked us what our goal was and I spoke up and told him the date June 21 and that I wanted to play here. The guys just laughed and ran with it. Halfway through the season we were losing tough ones and we didn’t think it was going to happen, but we really came together. Just to be a part of it is something I will never forget,” he added.
Sadler had just come off a brilliant effort on the mound and knew he needed one against a Ranger team that had not allowed a run in the playoffs.
Sadler gave up only one hit through the first six innings and in fact had retired 10 of the 11 batters he faced entering the seventh inning of the scoreless tie.
Greely’s Chaz Reade led off the inning with a pop fly that dropped between Caribou second baseman Michael Hunter and right fielder Mason Huck for a hit. Following a sacrifice bunt and an infield hit by Pat O’Shea to put runners on first and third, junior catcher Reid Howland hit a 3-2 Sadler pitch into right field to drive in pinch runner William Bryant for the only run of the game.
“The pitch was low and away and I just went with it and found the gap,” said Howland, who admitted his goal earlier in the at-bat was to get the ball in the air to the outfield for a sacrifice fly.
It was an opportunity Howland knew he had to take advantage of with Sadler as effective as he was all game.
“He worked quick and there wasn’t much time to get set up in the batter’s box,” Howland said. “He had a slow bending curve and his stuff was working. He pitched a great game and was impressive.”
However, Greely’s pitcher, senior Connor Russell, matched Sadler with a brilliant performance and helped extend his team’s streak of holding the opposition scoreless to 39 innings.
“I had my stuff and had what I needed to get the job done,” said Russell. “We knew Caribou was strong in Eastern B, but we hadn’t heard much about them. We thought we’d come out strong, but they surprised us.”
Russell allowed baserunners in six of the seven innings, but allowed only four hits. He benefited from a big play in the first inning as Rangers’ senior right fielder Bailey Train threw out Dustin Bouchard trying to advance to third base from first on Matt Milliard’s base hit. It was the second out of the inning, but Sadler flew out to right to end the threat.
“As an outfielder, you want to be tested,” said Train, who will play baseball at the Div. I level at the University of Massachusetts this fall. “Obviously at the time I didn’t know it’d be that big a deal, so it feels pretty good.”
“We knew we had a lot of game left, but it was a big play because we had a real chance to score,” said Caribou senior catcher Cody Herbert.
Caribou put its second runner in scoring position in the fifth after Matt Manter singled to left center field and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches, but the next batter, lead-off man Michael Hunter, was retired by Russell on a groundout to end the inning.
“He was incredible,” Sadler said of Russell. “We hadn’t faced a pitcher like that. He had great off-speed stuff and really knew how to pitch.”
Sadler got to second on an error by Greely second baseman Cal Soule with two outs in the sixth, but was stranded, and in Caribou’s chance to answer the run the Rangers had scored in the top of the inning, Herbert led off the seventh with a single to left. He was forced out at second on Dylan Berkoski’s fielder’s choice grounder before Mason Huck grounded into a game-ending double play.
Train came away impressed with the Vikings’ performance in their first berth in a state final.
“They are a lot better than a seventh seed and than their record indicated,” he said. “That team had some great players and Connor is one of the best pitchers in the state and for them to put the ball in play like they did says a lot.”
He also heaped individual praise on Sadler for keeping his team in contention.
“That kid on the mound was a gamer,” Train said. “He threw knucklers, curves — he kept us off balance and we had a tough time squaring up on the ball.”
“I talked to a guy who had pitched in a state game and he told me he threw the knuckleball and the opponent couldn’t hit it, so I decided to test the theory,” Sadler said. “I used it some during the year but to [Greely’s] three, four and five hitters, it was straight knuckleballs.”
Herbert said that despite the close loss, it was a season to remember for his Vikings.
“Nobody knew we were going to be here, so it felt great just to come down here and come out to play,” he said.
