Tennis teams impressive as girls and boys shut out Ellsworth
The spring season opened last week for Caribou’s tennis, track and field and baseball and softball teams.
The Viking tennis teams were impressive as the girls and boys both shut out Ellsworth (last Wednesday) and Foxcroft Academy (Saturday) on the road.
The girls rolled as Gabrielle Marquis, Conner Spencer and Ashley Matlock each prevailed twice in singles matches, while the doubles teams of Ciara Richards-Danielle Hanson and Hailey Holmquist-Kyra Thibeault also eased their way to victories.
The Caribou boys were similarly dominant. Singles players Ethan Plourde, Alec Cyr and Austin Scott all came out on top against both their opponents from the the Eagles and the Ponies. Austin Cheplic and Seth Beidelman in No. 1 doubles and Emerson Duplissie-Cyr and Gabe Rand in second doubles defeated their Ellsworth challengers, while the teams were switched up against Foxcroft Academy, with Cheplic and Duplissie-Cyr combining for the first doubles win and Rand and Beidelman doing the same in second doubles.
The track and field team debuted with a meet held Saturday, also at Foxcroft Academy.
The Viking squads each placed second out of nine teams. Garnering individual victories on the girls’ side were JoJo Fields in the 100-meter hurdles in 18 seconds, Emma Belyea in the 1,600-meter racewalk in 9:57.4, Eileen Patton in the 300 hurdles in 55.6 seconds and in the javelin throw with a mark of 97 feet, 10 inches; and Meagan Dube in the 200-meter dash in 28.3 seconds.
Willow Whitten placed second to Fields in the 100 hurdles and second to Patton in the 300 hurdles, Kendra Furber and Emily Austin were second and third behind Belyea in the racewalk, Alexis Rodriguez was the runner-up in the 3,200 and the 4×400 relay team also placed second.
For the Caribou boys, Apollo Grondin won the 110-meter hurdles in 20.2 seconds, while Evan Desmond captured the 1,600 racewalk in 7:55.6 for the only wins.
Depth was a key in the Vikings’ success as Caleb Libby was second in the hurdles and Bryce Coffin was the runner-up in the racewalk. Grondin and Libby were also second and third, respectively, in the 300 hurdles and Richard Newland turned in a second-place effort in the 400-meter dash and also was second in the triple jump. Chathu Karunasiri was second in the 3,200-meter run. The 4×400 and 4×800 relay teams also posted runner-up performances.
On the baseball field, Caribou opened with a split of a doubleheader against John Bapst in games played at the University of Maine. The Crusaders took the first contest, 6-5, thanks to a three-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning. Caribou scored all of its runs in the third inning. Mike Hunter and Justin Ouellette, who went the distance on the mound, had two hits each for the Vikes.
In game two, the Vikings pounded out 13 hits, breaking a 3-3 tie with a five-run outburst in the fourth to go on to a 17-4 victory. Mason Huck had three hits, while Spencer McDuffie notched two and contributed three RBIs for the winners. Hunter, Ouellette and Camden Huck added two hits apiece. John Bapst committed 10 errors in the game. Gunnar Bondeson and Tyler Dombroski shared the pitching duties for the Vikes.
In softball, Caribou was beaten twice by the Crusaders, 12-5 in the opener and 12-8 in the nightcap. The Vikings had five hits in the first game, with Rachel Soucy and Jenna Boucher each doubling, driving in a run and scoring a run. Soucy struck out six batters, walked two and surrendered 14 hits while picking up the loss on the mound.
Soucy and Boucher did the pitching in the game two loss. Searra Herbert homered and knocked in a pair of runs, while Maddie Doucette tripled and singled and had three RBIs while scoring twice to pace Caribou’s offense. Soucy chipped in with two hits for the Vikes.
