The Presque Isle baseball team pulled off key wins over John Bapst in both ends of a doubleheader played in Bangor to highlight Tuesday’s action on the diamond.
The Wildcats trailed the first game after four innings, but tied it with two runs in the fifth and took the lead with one in the sixth. R.J. Gross came on in relief of starter Jonah Hudson in the sixth and tossed a pair of scoreless innings. PI overcame poor defense (nine errors) by out hitting the Crusaders, 13-7. Nick Bartlett led the way with four hits and three RBIs and Gross had three hits and two RBIs.
Gross was the game two starter and went five innings before giving way to freshman Connor Demerchant. Gross and Hudson had two hits each and Torey Levesque singled and drove in two runs.
Presque Isle is in 11th place in the Class B North standings with its 5-6 record. The top 12 team advance into the postseason.
Fort Fairfield’s Dylan Jandreau listens to coach John Ala before stepping to the plate during the May 16 home game against LCS/MSSM. (Kevin Sjoberg)
The Caribou baseball and softball teams both won for the first time this season. The Vikes (1-6) topped Fort Kent in a baseball slugfest, 26-17, while the Viking softball team (1-8) prevailed, 18-3.
On Wednesday, Ashland’s baseball and softball teams have doubleheaders at Madawaska beginning at 2 p.m. Central Aroostook is at Washburn, Caribou is at Houlton; Presque Isle is at Fort Kent; East Grand is at Hodgdon. All those games start at 4 p.m. Stearns is at Katahdin for 3:30 p.m. contests.
Summaries of other games played Tuesday include:
Softball
John Bapst 6, Presque Isle 5 — In the first of two played in Bangor, the Wildcats made a late comeback that fell just short. PI trailed 6-1 entering the seventh and put a few hits together to get to within a run, but that was as close as the Wildcats came.
“I was very proud of how we fought back and made things interesting,” said PI coach Terry Cummings.
Faith Leavitt surrendered just three earned runs while going all seven innings on the mound.
Presque Isle 17, John Bapst 7 — The second game went to the Wildcats as they took the lead early and cruised. Sydney Thompson pitched well in the win. Presque Isle, at 5-6, is in 10th place in the Class B North standings after the split. After Wednesday’s game against Fort Kent, the Wildcats are off until May 25 when they host Houlton in what will be a point-worthy game.
LCS/MSSM 15, Fort Fairfield 8 — The Eagles avenged an early-season loss and extended their winning streak to five games with the win in Fort Fairfield.
Freshman Taylor Labreck tripled and singled twice and Lasha Butler also had three hits as the 5-2 Eagles took the lead for good in the fifth inning. Delaney Rossignol was the winning pitcher and Sara Edgecomb took the loss for the Tigers. Makaila Beck had a pair of doubles and four RBIs for FF, now 3-5.
Southern Aroostook 15, East Grand 2 — At Dyer Brook, SACS pitcher Kylie Vining struck out 15 and yielded no walks as the Warriors improved to 5-1 with the win over East Grand. The Vikings drop to 4-3 on the season.
Vining aided her cause with a grand slam and solo homer. Makaelyn Porter chipped in with two singles and a double for two RBIs. Katie Stevens contributed three singles.
Hayliegh Shay doubled, singled and drove in a run for East Grand, while Jennifer Crone chipped in with a single and RBI.
Baseball
Fort Fairfield 11, LCS/MSSM 1 — The Tigers are now 8-0 and in fourth place in Class D North after an easy win over the Eagles in Fort Fairfield.
Malcolm Langner and Colby Langner paced the offense with two singles each and Dawson Watson had two RBIs on a bases-loaded single. Andy Whitman and Travis Hatfield had the lone LCS/MSSM hits.
Will Whitman scoops up a throw at third base for LCS/MSSM as Fort Fairfield’s Ryan Player slides in safely during the May 16 baseball game in Fort Fairfield. (Kevin Sjoberg)
Southern Aroostook 10, East Grand 9 — At Dyer Brook, Nate Lilley recorded a triple, double and single with five RBIs to power the Warriors by the Vikings of Danforth. Eighth-grader Jacob Brooks chipped in with a double and single for the Warriors.
Trevor Noyes singled and drove in two runs for East Grand. Southern Aroostook improves to 3-3 with the win, while East Grand dips to 1-5.
Tennis
Presque Isle made the long trip south to Hancock County to take on Mount Desert Island and the girls and boys both suffered losses to the Trojans. The Wildcat tennis squads both own 5-3 records, with the boys currently in 10th place and the girls in 12th in Class B North. The top 11 teams will advance to the playoffs.
The Wildcats have four matches remaining in the regular season, two against Fort Kent (doubleheader Thursday at UMPI at 3 p.m.) and one each against Houlton (Monday, May 22) and Caribou (Tuesday, May 23).
A summary of the MDI matches follow:
MDI boys (5-3) 4, Presque Isle (5-3) 1 — Singles: Andre Daigle (PI) def. Drake Janes 8-3, Jimmy Carroll (MDI) def. Mason Young 8-5, Nolan Murphy (MDI) won by forfeit; Doubles: September Murray/Gabe Michael (MDI) def. Gage Young/Isaac Madore 8-1, Ryan Kelly/Max Craigo (MDI) def. Austin Moreau/Brandon McKnight 8-2.
MDI girls (6-2) 5, Presque Isle (5-3) 0 — Singles: Ellie Bridgers def. Sarah Morneault 8-4, Delaney Smith def. Miranda Brogan 8-4, India Janes def. Hana Boucher 8-6; Doubles: Rachel Jacobs/Emily Banks def. Anna Robinson/Gaby Haley 9-8(8-6), Baylee Cust/Izzy Wellman-Webster won by forfeit.
Fort Kent boys 3, Houlton 2 — In a doubleheader played at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, the individual results were: in singles, Nolan Porter (Hou.) beat Micah Charette, 8-2; Niko Naranja (FK) beat Owen Gallop, 8-0; and David Roy (FK) bested Devin Ivey, 8-2. In doubles, Reece Voisine and Johnny Blanchette (FK) defeated Issac Vega and Jaron Gentle, 9-7; and Tim Youngfellow and Nate Delucca (Hou.) beat David Ouellette and Parker Jandreau, 8-0.
Fort Kent boys (3-2) 3, Houlton (0-7) 2 — In the second contest, results were: in singles: Porter defeated Charette, 8-4; Naranja beat Gallop, 8-4; and Roy bested Ivey, 8-2. In doubles, Voisine and Blanchette defeated Vega and Gentle, 8-3; and Youngfellow and Delucca defeated Ouellette and Jandreau, 8-1.
Fort Kent girls 3, Houlton 2 — In a doubleheader played at UMPI, the individual results were: in singles, Rebecca Mooers (Hou.) defeated Sarah Pelletier, 8-6; Sydney Lorom (Hou.) beat Cassidy Lovley, 8-2; and Syndi Pelletier (FK) bested Maddie Grant, 8-4. In doubles, Isabelle Charette and Autumn Bouchard (FK) defeated Nadja Messerschmidt and Tessa McCormick, 8-1; and Lexi Lovely and Hannah Daigle (FK) beat Emily Miller and Carolyn Hannigan, 8-5.
Houlton (1-6) 3, Fort Kent (2-3) 2 — In the second match of the day, the Shires picked up their first win of the season. Results were: in singles, Mooers beat Pelletier, 8-4; Lorom defeated C. Lovely, 8-6; and Grant bested Pelletier, 8-3. In doubles, Charette and Bouchard, defeated Messerschmidt and McCormick, 8-1; and L. Lovley and Daigle beat Miller and Hannigan, 8-5.
