HOULTON, Maine — Hopes for a perfect season remain alive and well for the Houlton baseball team, following a couple of close calls in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds.
The No. 2 Shiretowners (18-0 overall) traveled to Bangor Tuesday evening to face No. 1 George Stevens Academy (17-1) for the Class C North championship at Mansfield Stadium. If Houlton wins, it will play for the state Class C title on Saturday, June 18, at St. Joseph’s College in Standish at 4:30 p.m.
This past Saturday, Houlton needed extra innings to pull off a 5-4 win over No. 6 Bucksport in the semifinals. Billy Phillips earned the win in 1 2/3 innings of hitless relief for the Shires. Phillips struck out three of the four batters he faced and allowed one walk.
“It certainly was a nail biter,” Houlton coach Jim Castner said. “Colby Callnan came up big with the two strike pinch-hit RBI single (in the fifth inning) and so did Zach Hagan in the eighth with the walk off.”
Starter Ryan Dee tossed three innings for Houlton, scattering two runs (one earned) on two hits and one walk, with two strikeouts. Pat Howe pitched 3 1/13 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk.
“Ryan gave us three good innings and Pat pitched one heck of a game,” Castner said. “He did a fantastic job for his first ever playoff appearance. Billy also did an incredible job stranding runners on base.”
For Bucksport, Matt Vincent gave up four hits, while striking out five.
Houlton’s Hagan produced the game-winning hit with an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning. Dee started out the inning with a single and stole second and went to third on B. Phillips’ fielder’s choice before coming home on Hagan’s hit.
Houlton found itself down 2-0 after two innings, but rallied with a four-run fifth inning. In that rally, Callnan sparked things with a pinch hit, RBI-single to move Houlton into the lead.
For Bucksport (8-11), Andy Allan had two hits.
In the quarterfinals June 8, Cameron Graham collected two hits, two RBIs and pitched four innings in relief to earn the win for the second-ranked Shiretowners over the No. 7 Washington Academy Raiders.
Shire B. Phillips added two RBIs for Houlton.
For the 12-6 Raiders of East Machias, Jordi Valls recorded two hits and two runs while Cam Varney chipped in with three hits.
