A break in the weather translated into several games being played in central Aroostook County last week.
The busiest of all the schools may have been Central Aroostook. The Panther softball and baseball teams played four games in a four-day stretch and both experienced great success.
Keara McCrum of the Panthers slides into third base, ahead of the tag by Ashland third baseman Jamie Poulin, during Saturday’s game in Ashland. Central Aroostook won, 15-11. (Contributed photo)
Coach Julie Conrad’s CA girls won three of four games and broke a season-long losing streak in the process. They are now 3-5 and climbed into playoff contention by grabbing the 13th and final post-season slot in Class D North.
The Panther boys, coached by Butch Richardson, also won three of their four games and are 4-4 and up to 10th place in the baseball rankings.
On the baseball diamond, the Fort Fairfield Tigers are now 7-0 after a couple more wins. They are in fourth place in Class D.
On the flip side, Washburn remains winless in softball and baseball entering today’s games against Central Aroostook.
Summaries of games played May 9-15 are as follows:
Softball
Madawaska 17, Central Aroostook 0 — The Owls are a perfect 4-0 after tallying 10 first-inning runs in a blowout victory over the Panthers Monday in Madawaska. Hannah Nadeau hit a three-run homer and added an RBI single, while Jenna Dugal smacked three singles and drove in three runs for the Owls. Dugla dominated on the mound by tossing a two-hitter. Caitlyn Harris doubled for 3-5 CA.
Central Aroostook 15, Ashland 11 — The Panthers bolted out to a big lead early but had to hold on to defeat the Hornets Saturday morning in Ashland. Breanne Bradbury drove in three runs with a pair of hits for CA, while Morgan Doughty ripped three doubles and knocked in four runs for the Hornets. Harris earned the pitching victory and Cassidy Pelletier took the loss.
Central Aroostook catcher Lane Grass is able to hold onto the ball after colliding with Ashland baserunner Jesse Wortman during Saturday’s game in Ashland. Wortman was called out and the Panthers went on to a 14-8 victory. (Staff photo/Kevin Sjoberg)
Central Aroostook 14, Shead 5 — The Panthers capped their successful weekend with another strong showing, this time at home against Shead Saturday.
LCS/MSSM 12, Washburn 0 — The Eagles are now 3-2 after handling the Beavers in the early-morning game Saturday in Limestone. Individual results were not reported.
MDI 5, Presque Isle 2 — Lyndsey McEachern struck out 13 batters and her Trojans scored all five of their runs in the top of the seventh inning Saturday in the first game of a doubleheader played in Presque Isle. Maddie Thornton led MDI with three hits. Faith Leavitt also struck out 13 for PI in the loss. She allowed just one earned run.
Presque Isle 5, MDI 4 — The Wildcats came back to win the second game behind the pitching of Leavitt (four strikeouts in the complete game) and a balanced offense. Rebecca Rider, Savannah Rodriguez, Kayla Saucier, Sydney Thompson, Amy Seeley and Anna Trombley all had singles for PI, which bounced back from the tough loss by scoring three times in the first inning.
Hodgdon 21, Ashland 16 — At Ashland Friday, the visiting Hawks walked away with the win as Hodgdon took advantage of 20 walks to win its ninth contest. Megan Russell collected two singles and Sidney Crane added three singles and three RBIs for Hodgdon (9-0). For Ashland (1-4), Amber Chasse recorded two singles and a double.
Madawaska 12, Fort Fairfield 0 — The host Owls put seven runs up in the third inning and cruised to Friday’s win in Madawaska. Dugal had four hits in the five-inning contest.
Central Aroostook 11, Washburn 3 — The Panthers won for the first time and the Beavers remained winless following Friday’s contest in Mars Hill. Harris was solid on the mound with 10 strikeouts and she joined teammates Bradbury and Annika Nicholas with two his apiece. Lexi Carney and Maci Barker had a hit each for the Beavers.
Presque Isle 10, Caribou 1 — Faith Leavitt allowed just three hits over seven innings and collected 10 strikeouts along the way as Presque Isle prevailed and kept the Vikings winless. Savannah Rodriguez singles three times and Sydney Thompson tripled and singled for PI.
“Our defense was very good as we committed one error,” said Wildcat coach Terry Cummings. “[Offensively], we were able to play some small ball to keep pressure on the Vikings’ defense.”
Southern Aroostook 12, Fort Fairfield 0 — At Dyer Brook last Wednesday, Kylie Vining struck out 12 to lift the Warriors (4-1) past Fort Fairfield (3-3). Vining also doubled and singled twice to drive in two runs. Alexis Hartin collected three singles and a double and Makaelyn Porter added a double and two singles, with three RBIs. Cassidy Coiley doubled for the Tigers.
Presque Isle 14, Fort Kent 2 — At Presque Isle last Tuesday, Thompson gave up only three hits to go along with 10 strikeouts as her Wildcats prevailed.
Thompson aided her own cause at the plate with a single, a double and two RBIs. Trombley and Saucier chipped in with two singles apiece for Presque Isle.
LCS/MSSM 18, Central Aroostook 2 — At Mars Hill Tuesday, Marissa Emery tripled and doubled as the Eagles broke into the win column for the first time by blasting the Panthers. Rossignol had nine strikeouts to earn the pitching win for the Eagles. Harris compiled eight strikeouts for 0-4 CA in the loss.
Baseball
Central Aroostook 15, Madawaska 0 — The Panthers reached the .500 mark with the shutout victory on the road Monday. The Owls remain winless at 0-5. Individual results were not reported.
Central Aroostook 14, Ashland 8 — In the first of their two games played Saturday, the Panthers broke open a close game by tallying four runs in the sixth inning to defeat the Hornets in Ashland. Caleb Harris and Ben Thomas both doubled and singled for CA, while Daniel Wortman ripped a pair of doubles for the Hornets (2-4).
Shead 7, Central Aroostook 5 — The Panthers fell just short in their afternoon home game against Shead of Eastport. Ben Thomas took the pitching loss and Colby Kingsbury came on in relief. Richardson said Lane Grass caught both games and played well throughout.
MDI 4, Presque Isle 3 — The Trojans scored three unearned runs to defeat the Wildcats in the first game of a twinbill played in Presque Isle Saturday. Mac Shea led MDI with two hits, while Nick Bartlett was PI’s lone repeat hitter with a pair of singles.
MDI 10, Presque Isle 1 — In game two, Shea and James McConomy had three hits each as the Trojans completed the sweep. Bartlett singled and scored the lone run for 3-6 Presque Isle.
Hodgdon 11, Ashland 10 — The Hawks improved to 5-4 by avoiding an upset bid by Ashland Friday in Hodgdon. Individual results were not reported.
Fort Fairfield 25, Madawaska 2 — Ryan Player, Jared Harvey and Jon Bernard combined on a no-hitter and Blake Parady had a pair of singles as the Tigers moved to 7-0 with the easy win in Madawaska Friday.
Central Aroostook 10, Washburn 1 — Taylor Campbell paced the Panther offense with three hits and he scored twice, while Zachary Crouch fanned 10 batters and tossed a three-hitter as Central Aroostook notched a convincing home win over Washburn Friday. McCall Turner, Carver Pendexter and Noah White all singled for the Beavers.
Fort Fairfield 7, Southern Aroostook 0 — At Dyer Brook, Carter Bruce tossed a shutout as the Tigers kept their unbeaten record intact and swept the season series against the Warriors. Liam McNamee slammed out a pair of doubles and drove in three of Fort Fairfield’s runs in last Wednesday’s contest, while Nolan Altvater had two hits for the Warriors.
Presque Isle 5, Fort Kent 2 — At Presque Isle last Tuesday, Jonah Hudson singled twice and drove in two runs to lead the Wildcats past the Warriors. Brad Kinney doubled and scored two runs for 2-4 Presque Isle. Jacob Daigle and Nathan Michaud singled for Fort Kent, which suffered its first loss after opening with two victories.
LCS/MSSM 14, Central Aroostook 8 — At Mars Hill, the Eagles scored seven first-inning runs en route to their first win of the season last Tuesday over the Panthers. Matthew Pelkey and Karter Whitman each recorded three singles for the 1-2 winners, while Harris singled twice for 1-3 Central Aroostook. Whitman was the LCS/MSSM starting pitcher and got the win, while Harris took the loss.
