Washburn teams, Ashland baseball draw first-round byes
The Limestone-MSSM softball team, which won an Eastern Maine title a year ago as the No. 1 seed, is back in the same position.
The Eagles, with their 14-2 mark, grabbed the top spot, with Washburn, at 12-3, ranked second in the Class D ranks.
Both teams earned byes into the quarterfinal round, which is slated for Thursday. Limestone-MSSM will play the winner of today’s prelim game between No. 8 Ashland and No. 9 East Grand/Greater Houlton Christian Academy, which begins at 3 p.m. in Ashland. Washburn awaits the survivor of this afternoon’s contest between No. 7 Central Aroostook and No. 10 Shead, which takes place at 4 p.m. in Mars Hill.
The Hornets and Panthers had to replay an earlier meeting which was protested by Ashland after finding the distance from the mound to home plate was too far when they played in Mars Hill on May 22. That first game was won by CA, 20-19, but Thursday’s rematch went to the Hornets, 12-8. As a result, Ashland was able to grab the No. 8 seed and host a prelim contest.
Fort Fairfield upset Washburn at home Thursday, 4-3, to move up to fourth place in the standings. The Tigers host No. 13 Highview Christian in a 4 p.m. preliminary game this afternoon.
In Class B softball, Presque Isle used its 10-1 victory over Caribou last Wednesday in the regular season finale to move into the eighth position in the Heal Point standings and a hosting position for the prelims. Nokomis of Newport, the No. 9 seed, makes the trip north for the 3 p.m. matchup this afternoon, with the winner earning the right to travel to Gardiner to take on the undefeated Tigers in the quarters Thursday.
The Wildcats finished with a 10-6 record, reeling off four victories in a row to complete their slate.
Caribou finished 15th with its 5-11 mark and out of the post-season for the second consecutive year.
The Class D baseball playoff picture shows Ashland and Washburn in the top four and drawing byes into the quarterfinal round. The No. 3 Hornets, at 11-5, will play either No. 6 Shead or No. 11 Katahdin in Thursday’s quarters. Washburn, by virtue of its 6-4 victory on Thursday over Fort Fairfield, moved into fourth place at 10-4 and will square off against either No. 5 Hodgdon or No. 12 Schenck.
Coach John Ala’s Tigers are at 9-5 and in seventh place and host Penobscot Valley of Howland at 4 p.m. this afternoon to decide who plays second-ranked Stearns of Millinocket in Thursday’s quarterfinal.
Limestone-MSSM, which was the EM runner-up in 2014, missed the playoffs this year with its 4-11 record, finishing in 14th place. The Eagles’ regular season came to an end last Wednesday with an 8-3 home loss to Fort Kent.
In Class B, the Presque Isle Wildcats finished as the 11th seed in the region and had to make the trip to play No. 6 Camden Hills in a Monday afternoon prelim. In that game, PI was limited to three hits in a 4-0 shutout loss to the Windjammers. Caleb Nadeau led the 8-9 ’Cats with two hits and Kyle Rider chipped in with the other. Ben Buckley started on the mound for PI and suffered the loss.
Caribou, the defending EM Class B champs, will begin its playoff run against the same opponent it met in last year’s prelim round — Foxcroft Academy. This game will be played this afternoon at noon in Dover-Foxcroft. The Ponies are the No. 4 seed, while Caribou just barely got into the post-season at No. 13 and with a record of 6-10. A one-run victory by Buckport over George Stevens Academy last Wednesday was able to push Caribou past MDI for the final playoff slot.
