FORT KENT, Maine — A team effort by the Fort Kent Community High School Warriors including 13 base hits among six players resulted in a one-run win over Central High School of East Corinth in the Class C North Semifinal game in Fort Kent on Saturday, June 8.
The Warriors’ 9-8 victory secured the team a berth in the Class C North Regional Championship.
The No. 2 Warriors inched out the win over the No. 3 seeded Red Devils at the bottom of the seventh inning. Tied at 8-8, Warrior Eden Paradis, who was first to bat on the inning, said he knew his team needed just one run to seal the win. Paradis obliged by hitting a double.
“I just had to stay as calm as I could. I knew I could do it but I had to stay calm and let him pitch to me,” Paradis said of his at bat.
Kayden Nadeau answered the call for a game-winning hit in the clutch when he stepped up to the plate right after Paradis and batted another double.
“As soon as he hit it, I knew I’d have a chance and I went for it,” Paradis said.
Paradis ran home on Nadeau’s game winning hit.
“This is the farthest we’ve made it,” said Warriors head coach Tracey Hartt of the semifinal win. “We’ve lost this game before.”
Hartt attributed the win to the entire Warrior roster due to the efforts the athletes made to accomplish a 15-1 season and go on to win two playoff games so far.
“They are all good athletes; they deserve to be here,” Hartt said. “All year long the guys on that field gave it all they got. The thing I have been proudest of the most is that when one player was off, the others stepped up. This was a team effort.”
The top hitters for Fort Kent were Austin Plourde with a double, two singles and four RBIs. Paradis nailed a double, two singles, and two RBIs. Kayden Nadeau had a double that led to the game winning RBI in 7th inning. Camden Jandreau, Caleb Delisle and Reece Pelletier each had two singles.
Senior CJ Rocheleau pitched six innings for the Warriors with four strikeouts.
Central’s Cam Doak knocked out a two-run homer and Anthony Chamberlain had two hits.
Fort Kent will play No. 4 Orono in the regional competition. The Red Riots upset top seeded George Stevens Academy in a semifinal game on Saturday. The Class C North Regional game will take place Wednesday, June 12, at Shawn T. Mansfield Stadium in Bangor.
The winner of Wednesday’s game between Fort Kent and Orono will head to the 2019 Maine State Baseball Championship on Saturday, June 15, also at Mansfield Stadium.
Whatever the outcome of the regional championship, Hartt, who has coached the Warriors for nine years, said he is proud of what his players did to elevate the reputation of Warrior baseball.
“They used to say Fort Kent was not known for baseball; they are now,” Hartt said.
