It is on to the semifinals for many local squads following Thursday’s busy day of quarterfinal action on the baseball and softball diamonds.
In softball, No. 3 Katahdin (12-3) travels to Howland today (Friday) at 2 p.m. to face No. 2 Penobscot Valley (17-0) in a Class D North semifinal, while on Saturday, No. 1 Southern Aroostook (15-0) hosts No. 4 Ashland (10-5) at 11 a.m. in the other D North semifinal.
The winners in those games meet for the regional championship game Wednesday, June 13, at 7 p.m. at Brewer High School.
In baseball, No. 1 Fort Fairfield (13-2) hosts No. 5 Katahdin (11-4) 3 p.m. Saturday in a Class D North semifinal. The winner of that game faces either No. 6 Penobscot Valley (15-3) or No. 2 Bangor Christian (13-4) Wednesday, June 13, at 3 p.m. at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor for the regional championship.
In Class C North, No. 1 Houlton (12-3) hosts No. 4 George Stevens Academy (12-5) at 1 p.m. Saturday. The winner of that game faces either No. 6 Dexter (13-4) or No. 2 Mattanawcook Academy (11-6) on Tuesday, June 12, at 6:30 p.m. at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor for the regional championship.
The following is a recap of Thursday’s quarterfinal round.
Softball
Katahdin 5 East Grand 2 — At Stacyville, Katahdin hurler Lily Cullen struck out an impressive 11 batters as the No. 3 Cougars (12-3) held off No. 6 East Grand (12-3) in a Class D North quarterfinal.
For the Cougars, Hannah Drew doubled and singled; Lindsay Drew had two singles and Erin Lake and Emma McNally each had one single.
Haleigh Shay had four strikeouts inside the pitching circle for East Grand. Kianna Caissie led the Vikings at the plate with a pair of singles, while Shay, Mallory Gilman, Jenny Crone and Natalie Golding each had one single.
Orono’s Molly McCluskey slides safely into third base ahead of the tag by Houlton third baseman Tyra Gentle during Thursday’s Class C North quarterfinal. Orono won 12-5. (Joseph Cyr)
Ashland 6, Woodland 5 — At Ashland, junior left-hander Cami Deabay threw a three-hitter with 11 strikeouts, the last of which came with the potential tying run on base in the seventh inning, to spark the fourth-seeded Hornets into the semifinals.
Olivia Tardie stroked a two-run single in the fourth and finished with three RBIs for 11-5 Ashland. Shelby Stolze contributed two singles and scored three times.
Jennie Cox doubled and singled to lead No. 5 Woodland (13-5).
“(The game) was a little closer than it should have been,” Ashland coach Terry Hunter said. “The bats weren’t working real well but the base running was.”
Southern Aroostook 11, Madawaska 1 — At Dyer Brook June 7, Kylie Vining allowed just three hits, struck out six batters with no walks to lead the top-ranked Warriors in a Class D North quarterfinal win over Madawaska.
Vining helped her own cause with a grand slam in the second inning and an RBI single in the fourth. Southern Aroostook’s Makaelyn Porter and Paige Vose both doubled and singled, while Emma Nadeau and Alexis Hartin each had two singles.
Jenna Dugal had two singles for Madawaska who ended the season with an 8-8 record.
Houlton’s Nick Perfitt, right, and Morgan Phillips celebrate after the Shires defeated Orono 2-0 Thursday afternoon in a Class C North quarterfinal.
(Joseph Cyr)
Orono 12, Houlton 5 — At Houlton Thursday, the No. 5 Red Riots of Orono scored early and often en route to the Class C North quarterfinal upset win over No. 4 Houlton. Orono (10-7) jumped to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning, capitalizing on timely hits and throwing miscues.
Individual results were not reported.
Baseball
Houlton 2, Orono 0 — At Houlton June 7 in a Class C North quarterfinal, left-hander Pat Howe threw six scoreless innings as the No. 1 Shires (12-3) shut out No. 8 Orono (8-10). The victory gave Houlton a bit of revenge as it was Orono who knocked the Shires out of the playoffs in the semifinals a season ago. Orono was the defending Class C state champs.
Howe allowed four hits, while striking out seven through six innings. Nick Perfitt entered in the top of the seventh inning and pitched a scoreless frame to pick up the save for the Shires.
“Pat looked great on the mound for us today,” Houlton coach Jim Castner said. “He was hitting his locations and got Orono to hit into a lot of ground balls. Bringing Nick in (in the top of the seventh) was just to change things up a bit.”
Keegan Gentle paced the offense for Houlton with two singles, two stolen bases and a run scored.
For Orono, Khole Parker collected three singles and Jason Desisto posted two singles. Noah White pitched the loss.
“We faced Noah White twice, and he has such a great curveball,” coach Castner said. “Orono is always a tough matchup, but we did a nice job manufacturing some runs.”
Fort Fairfield 4, Stearns 3 — At Fort Fairfield, Jared Harvey struck out nine as the No. 1 Tigers (13-2) beat No. 9 Stearns (8-10). Harvey had an RBI single and Liam McNamee had a two-run single in the three-run first inning for the Tigers.
Stearns scored once in the fourth and two runs in the fifth to tie the game. Seth Garvin had a single and scored a run, JW Briggs hit a two-run double. Stearns’ Caleb York was the losing pitcher.
Tiger Dawson Watson drove what turned out to be the game-winning run in the bottom of the fifth inning.
(Photos by Joseph Cyr & Kevin Sjoberg)
