The Fort Fairfield Tigers will play for a regional baseball championship this afternoon at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor.
Coach John Ala’s squad earned that right by beating Hodgdon, 12-1, Saturday in the semifinal round of the Class D North playoffs. The Tigers, now 14-2, entered as the No. 3 seed, while Hodgdon was No. 2.
Junior pitcher Carter Bruce was brilliant on the mound. He allowed just five hits, didn’t walk a batter and kept a shutout intact until the bottom of the sixth inning.
“He threw strikes, mixed up his pitches and located well,” Ala said. “He trusted his defense and they played error-free baseball.”
Fort Fairfield was aided by the wildness of Hodgdon pitchers, who allowed 12 walks.
Jon Bernard’s two-run single in the top of the fourth made it a 4-0 Tiger lead and the visitors put the game away by tallying seven sixth-inning runs. Ryan Player had two hits in the inning, the latter driving in a run, while Bernard also came through with a run-scoring single. Fort Fairfield also took advantage of three walks and two Hawk errors in the frame.
Now Fort Fairfield gets to play Penobscot Valley High School of Howland for the second consecutive year. Last season, the Tigers lost in the prelim round, 10-4, in a game that lasted 11 innings. Ala knows his team will have its hands full against the No. 1 team in the division.
“They are an excellent team. They hit and field well and have a solid pitching staff,” Ala said. “We need to put together quality at bats and force them to make plays, and our pitchers will need to move the ball around and hit their spots.”
Game time is at 3 p.m.
Ala confirmed that his lineup will be without one of the team’s top hitters in Isaac Cyr, who was ejected from Saturday’s game after disputing a called third strike and therefore is forced to miss the title game.
Fort Fairfield defeated Bangor Christian, 6-3, in Thursday’s quarterfinal game, which was played in Caribou due to unplayable conditions on its home field.
Jared Harvey and Bruce combined on a five-hitter and the Tigers came from behind by scoring three times in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead for good. Dalton Cassidy, Cyr and Bernard had two hits each for the Tigers.
The Central Aroostook Panthers did not field a team last year due to lack of numbers and the previous season went 0-14, but as the No. 12 seed in Class D this season they pulled off a couple victories in the playoffs before losing in Friday’s semifinal to PVHS.
After knocking off No. 5 Shead June 6 in the prelim round, CA went on to top No. 13 Schenck of East Millinocket in extra innings in the quarters played at home Thursday, 6-5.
In that one, the Panthers had to come from behind by tying the game with a run in the seventh and winning it walkoff-style in the eighth.
The tying run came across on Ben Thomas’s two-out RBI single, which plated pinch runner Taylor Campbell from second base. Colby Kingsbury also registered a key hit with two outs to keep the inning alive.
In the eighth, Caleb Harris reached on a fielder’s choice, advanced to third on a double off the bat of Dane Kingsbury and scored on a single by Lane Grass which ended it in dramatic fashion.
Thomas went all eight innings and claimed the pitching victory. Riley Dionne and Matt Bossie did the pitching for the Wolverines and combined to allow 11 hits and also had five hit batsmen.
“I cannot be more proud of this group of young athletes for the way they have stepped up this year,” said CA coach Roland “Butch” Richardson.
The “Cinderella season” came to an end Friday with a 7-1 loss to the Howlers. Dustin Pryor doubled in the fourth and scored the lone Panther run. Nick Dominique also had a double. Alan Rideout suffered the pitching loss, but was effective outside of allowing five runs in the fourth.
The Washburn Beavers and Ashland Hornets were both eliminated in the preliminary round of the playoffs.
Washburn, ranked fourth in Class D, was beaten by Schenck last Tuesday, 13-1. The Wolverines feature one of the top pitchers in northern Maine in Ryan Jurgiewich and he was on his game as he struck out 13 batters and surrendered only three hits.
Justin Thompson led off the game with a solo home run and he added an RBI single later in the contest.
Noah Caron singled to drive in Kevin Jordan, who had walked, for Washburn’s only run of the game, which came in the fifth inning. McCall Turner and Jarrett Olson had the Beavers’ other hits. Turner took the loss on the mound, with Caron pitching a scoreless seventh inning in relief.
The following afternoon, Ashland lost a tough matchup with Katahdin, 7-6.
The Hornets hosted the game as No. 7 seed, but the 10th-ranked Cougars prevailed thanks to a four-run outburst in the top of the sixth inning.
Malcolm Milligan’s two doubles led Ashland at the plate, while Airin Harmon notched a pair of singles.
