Xavier Morales of Southern Aroostook scampers across home plate during Tuesday’s Class D North prelim game against Deer Isle-Stonington. The Warriors won 10-9. (Courtesy of Kermit McGary)
Several teams were victorious on the baseball and softball diamond Tuesday as a number of preliminary playoff games were played. Wednesday and Thursday also are shaping up to be busy days as teams try to capitalize on the current spell of good weather.
The schedule for Wednesday’s quarterfinal games is as follows:
No. 2 Houlton baseball (14-2) hosts No. 10 Sumner (5-12) at 3 p.m. in a Class C North quarterfinal. Sumner advanced to the quarterfinals with a 2-0 upset win over No. 7 Central (7-10) Tuesday. The Shires did not face Sumner during the regular season, but both squads faced off against Orono and Mattanawcook Academy. Houlton split with Orono (a 3-2 loss and 4-3 win), while Sumner lost to Orono 9-2 and 4-2. The Shires beat MA twice (10-9 and 5-4) while Sumner lost to MA 5-0 and 2-0.
No. 5 Houlton softball (11-5) travels to No. 4 Narraguagus (14-2), for a 3 p.m. Class C North quarterfinal. The two squads did not meet during the regular season. Narraguagus’ two losses of the season were to Greenville. The Knights scored 212 runs on the season (13.25 per game average), while allowing just 39 (2.4 per game). Houlton scored 195 runs (12.2 per game), while giving up 110 (6.9 runs).
Southern Aroostook’s Xavier Morales takes a lead at third base as coach Todd Collier cheers him on during Tuesday’s Class D north prelim game against Deer Isle-Stonington. The Warriors won 10-9 in eight innings. (Courtesy of Kermit McGary)
Thursday’s schedule is as follows:
No. 1 Fort Fairfield, the lone undefeated baseball team in the state, welcomes eighth-seeded Penobscot Valley of Howland (11-6) for a 4 p.m. quarterfinal contest. PVHS recorded a 7-1 win over Stearns in Tuesday’s preliminary round.
No. 3 Katahdin baseball (10-4) hosts No. 6 Shead (12-3) at 4 p.m. in a Class D North quarterfinal. Shead advanced with an 8-4 win over No. 11 Central Aroostook Tuesday. Katahdin and Shead did not meet during the regular season and did not face any common opponents.
No. 7 Southern Aroostook baseball (9-6) travels to No. 2 Bangor Christian (11-5) for a 4 p.m. game to be played at Husson University. The two squads did not meet during the regular season. Admission will be charged at this game to cover the cost of renting the Husson field. The cost is $2 for students and $4 for adults.
No. 5 Hodgdon baseball (12-4) hosts No. 13 Schenck (5-12) in a Class D North quarterfinal. The Hawks beat No. 12 East Grand (5-9), 17-7 in a the prelims, while Schenck upset No. 4 Woodland (11-4), 14-10 Tuesday.
No. 10 Presque Isle baseball (9-8) travels to play No. 2 Hermon (13-3) at 4 p.m., with a semifinal berth on the line. The Hawks swept the Wildcats in a May 27 doubleheader in Presque Isle by scores of 8-0 and 5-4. PI had advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3 upset win over No. 7 Gardiner Monday.
No. 3 Hodgdon softball (9-6) hosts No. 11 Schenck (11-6) 2:30 p.m. in a Class D North quarterfinal. The Wolverines upset No. 6 Woodland in the prelim round. Hodgdon did not play Schenck during the regular season.
No. 1 Southern Aroostook softball (12-2) hosts No. 8 Ashland (7-8) 2 p.m. in a Class D North quarterfinal. The Hornets advanced with a 10-9 win over No. 9 Central Aroostook Tuesday, while SA beat Deer Isle-Stonington 10-9 Tuesday. The Warriors beat Ashland 12-11 and 7-1 during the regular season.
No. 3 LCS/MSSM softball (11-4) hosts No. 6 Orono (12-5) at noon in a Class C North rematch of last year’s quarterfinal, won by the Eagles. The Red Riots moved on thanks to a 10-9 victory over No. 11 Dexter Tuesday.
Summaries of Tuesday’s prelim games are as follows:
Softball
Madawaska 12, Fort Fairfield 11 — The Tigers mounted an improbable nine-run rally in the top of the seventh inning to take the lead over Madawaska, but the Owls’ Hannah Nadeau ripped a two-run double in the bottom of the inning to give her team the walkoff victory in the Class D North contest held in Madawaska.
Amanda Whipple had two hits and three RBIs and Emily Everitt had a single and an RBI for the No. 12 Tigers, who ended the season with a 4-11 mark.
Winslow 8, Presque Isle 1 — At Winslow, the 10th-seeded Wildcats hung tough with the seventh-ranked Black Raiders for four innings before surrendering six runs in the bottom of the fifth in the loss.
Presque Isle’s Faith Leavitt pitched a complete-game three-hitter, but the Wildcats fell to Winslow 8-1 Tuesday in the preliminary playoff softball game. (Joseph Cyr | Pioneer Times)
The game was scoreless heading into the fifth and PI loaded the bases in its half before Savannah Rodriguez hit a hard liner that was flagged down by Winslow’s center fielder, squelching the threat.
Defensive mistakes led to many of Winslow’s runs in the bottom of the inning. Presque Isle did manage to push across a run in the sixth, with Allison Madore providing an RBI single. The Wildcats had just three hits in the game, with Madore also getting one earlier in the game and Amy Seeley notching the other. The Wildcats’ Faith Leavitt pitched well, allowing only three hits herself.
“Our youth showed up in the fifth inning, but we will be back as we are very young with just two seniors (Seeley and Leavitt),” said PI coach Terry Cummings.
Stearns 14, Katahdin 6 — The playoff road came to an end for the No. 13 Katahdin Cougars Tuesday as No. 4 Stearns advanced to the quarterfinals. Lilly Cullen pitched the loss for the Cougars, scattering 14 runs on 12 hits and nine walks, with three strikeouts.
Emma Alley and Paige Russell shared pitching duties for Stearns as the two combined for six runs on 14 hits and four walks, with no strikeouts.
Georgia Landry doubled and singled to lead Katahdin. Cullen helped her cause with a pair of singles, while Lindsay Drew, Kendra Patterson, Hannah Drew and Bailey Moody-Kay also had two singles.
Katahdin ends its season with a 4-11 record.
Medomak Valley 28, Caribou 0 — The fifth-ranked Panthers smashed out 20 hits, including home runs off the bats of Abby Nelson and Lydia Simmons, in the rout of the No. 12 Vikings in a Class B North prelim played in Waldoboro.
Medomak Valley pitchers Gabby DePatsy and Addie Jameson combined on a five-inning two-hitter, as Emily Adler’s double and Kaitlyn Waldemarson’s single were the only hits for the 5-12 Vikes, who recovered from an 0-8 start to qualify for the post-season.
Baseball
Southern Aroostook 10, Deer Isle-Stonington 9 — At Dyer Brook Tuesday, Hunter Lawlor laced a run-producing single in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Warriors squeaked past DI-S in extra innings. Lawlor collected five singles in the game and drove in three RBIs. Luis Morales added three singles, while Nolan Altvater doubled and had two singles.
Ethan Shepard had two singles and two RBIs for the Mariners.
Shead 8, Central Aroostook 4 — The Tigers won for the third time this season over the Panthers, using a four-run rally in the bottom of the sixth to break a tie on Tuesday in Eastport.
CA, the No. 11 seed, held leads of 2-0 and 3-2 in the early stages of the game before Shead battled back. Caleb Harris doubled and scored a run and Lane Grass collected an RBI single for the Panthers, who ended with a 7-8 record.
