Baseball, softball teams eliminated from playoffs
The Ashland Hornets’ baseball team and the Central Aroostook Panthers’ softball team saw their seasons come to an end Saturday when they both fell to Stearns in the semifinal round of the Class D playoffs in games played at Millinocket.
The baseball team lost by the 10-run rule to the Minutemen, 11-1. The Hornets were unable to solve Stearns pitcher Zach Bouchard, who struck out 10 batters while tossing a one-hitter.
Mitchell Bradford, Jordan Cullen and Devin Whitney all had two hits for the winners, who entered the post-season as the No. 2 seed in the division. They played No. 1 Southern Aroostook in the finals Tuesday night in Bangor.
Cody Blair took the loss on the mound for No. 3 Ashland, but had the team’s only hit.
Ashland had reached the semis after beating Katahdin in Thursday’s quarterfinal matchup. The Cougars jumped out to a 6-0 lead by taking advantage of an error-prone Ashland team over the first three innings. However, the Hornets put eight runs on the board in the bottom of the third to take a lead which they never relinquished.
Ashland scored a pair of runs in the fourth and then tallied six in the fifth to end the game on the 10-run rule. Michael Cook had a triple and a double and drove in three runs, while Lane Deabay added a pair of singles and also knocked in three. Lucas Craig also had two hits and two RBIs.
In softball, the Panthers got off to a good start behind Whitnie Bradbury’s two-run homer which staked CA to a 3-1 lead in the early going. However, the Lady Minutemen proved to be too much as they went on to score 10 unanswered runs to gain control.
Cassidy McLeod drove in three runs on a pair of singles to pace third-seeded Stearns, who was scheduled to take on No. 1 Limestone-MSSM in Tuesday’s Eastern Maine championship game at Brewer.
Jess Girsa earned the win on the mound and Karli Levesque of the Panthers took the loss.
Two days earlier, the No. 7 Panthers pulled off the upset at No. 2 Washburn, winning 8-2. Central Aroostook had lost the two regular season meetings by scores of 10-5 and 16-4, but plated five runs in the first inning and never looked back.
Levesque was strong on the mound as she fanned six batters in the complete-game four-hitter.
In the preliminaries, CA had bested Shead of Eastport at home last Wednesday, 15-6.
The eighth-ranked Presque Isle Wildcats’ softball team defeated No. 9 Nokomis in a Class B preliminary last Wednesday, 8-4, but went on to lose the following afternoon at top-seeded Gardiner, 8-1.
In the win, Presque Isle was able to put the leadoff batter on in all six innings and scored in four of those frames. Hailey Cameron tallied three hits, including a double, and scored four times to lead the way, while Kelsey Gilson chipped in with a double and a single while driving in five runs.
“If we get that first batter on, we usually have a good inning,” said PI coach Terry Cummings. “We felt we were the underdog and came in with a chip on our shoulder. I think we were hungrier to win.”
Gilson also did the job on the mound as she went all seven innings and surrendered seven hits while striking out five.
In the fourth inning, five Warrior hitters reached on either a hit or a walk, but Gilson minimized the damage by allowing only two runs as she left the bases loaded.
Cameron, the Wildcats’ shortstop, made some nice plays in the field and finished with three putouts and two assists.
“They (Nokomis) had some opportunities, but we made the plays when we had to,” Cummings said.
The next day, PI made the trip to Gardiner and was thoroughly beaten, 8-1.
The Wildcats had just two hits in the game, with their first coming on a Jordi Legassie bloop single in the sixth that broke up winning pitcher Kristal Smith’s no-hitter. Smith finished with 14 strikeouts.
The Tigers scored single runs in each of the first three innings before putting the game away with a four-run fifth.
The No. 4 Washburn baseball team dropped its quarterfinal to No. 12 Schenck Thursday, losing 9-5. The Fort Fairfield teams both fell in the prelim round, with the No. 4-ranked girls losing to No. 13 Highview Christian, 8-6, and the seventh-seeded boys dropping a 10-4 decision to No. 10 Penobscot Valley. Even though they were the hosts, the Tigers’ games had to be played in Mars Hill due to poor field conditions in Fort Fairfield.
The Ashland softball team fell to East Grand/GHCA in Presque Isle last Wednesday, 13-2. The game was close before the Vikings scored eight times in the top of the seventh inning. Cassidy Pelletier and Laura Sturgeon combined for six hits for the Hornets.
