BANGOR, Maine — The Caribou Vikings had a tradition of dramatic wins throughout the playoffs, and another one last Wednesday netted the first Eastern Maine championship in school history.
Matt Manter had a game-tying two-run single in the bottom of the sixth and four innings later, Matt Curry delivered a walk-off single into left field as Caribou bested Old Town, 4-3, in the regional Class B final held at Mansfield Stadium.
It was Caribou’s 14th victory of the season (against six losses) and marked the third time in the post-season that the squad came from behind and either won in walk-off style or in extra innings.
“We’ve been the Comeback Kids throughout the playoffs,” Curry said.
The night was one of several missed opportunities for the Viking offense. The team stranded 16 baserunners throughout the contest. Caribou had runners on every base with nobody out in the third, but a popout and a groundball double play ended the threat. The team also left the bases loaded in the fourth, seventh and eighth innings.
After the third-inning squander, Old Town jumped out to a 2-0 lead on consecutive hits to begin the inning by Tyler Young, Eric Hoogterp and Zac Miller off the lefthanded Curry, who settled down to retire the final three batters.
The Coyotes, who had swept a doubleheader from Caribou during the regular season and also had several players on the basketball team that had upset the Vikings in the EM finals back in February, added to their lead in the top of the sixth as Hoogterp doubled and scored on a single to right field by Braden Upshaw.
However, the Vikings never gave up, even after the first two batters were retired in the bottom of the inning. Cody Herbert slammed a long double off the glove of center fielder Upshaw before Dylan Berkoski singled Herbert home to put Caribou on the scoreboard. After Mason Huck drew a walk and both he and Berkoski moved up a base on a wild pitch, Old Town starting pitcher Adam Richardson was replaced by Hoogterp to face Manter.
The senior designated hitter was facing a 2-2 count when he came through with a line drive into right field to score both Berkoski and Huck and tie the game at 3-3.
“Coach said he had a lot of faith in me and that all I had to do was go up there and take an easy swing and put it in play,” Manter said. “I fought off a couple of tough pitches, got a fastball on the outside part of the plate and just went with it.”
“With their No. 9 batter up there, we’re still feeling good,” said Old Town coach Brad Goody, “but he just came up and hit one on the screws. It was a big hit and kudos to him.”
Following that hit, both teams failed to score in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. Old Town was able to put the potential go-ahead run in scoring position in both the seventh and ninth, but Curry came through and stranded them. He also pitched clean innings in the eighth and 10th and appeared to be getting stronger as the game went along.
“They are a good pulling team, but my sidearm pitch was hitting the outside corner like I wanted it to,” said the senior. “With two strikes, I was going with my fastball up and in to see if I could get them to chase and luckily they did most of the time.”
Meanwhile, Hoogterp escaped jams in the seventh, eighth and ninth and nearly did again in the 10th, but Curry, who had drove in the game-winner in the bottom of the seventh in Caribou’s home prelim victory over Foxcroft, had another chance for some heroics and delivered.
With runners on first and second and two outs, Curry took an 0-2 pitch the other way and grounded it between the third baseman and shortstop. Dustin Bouchard didn’t hesitate from second and slid into home ahead of the throw to give the Vikings the win.
“I was expecting a curveball as he had thrown three fastballs in a row, but I saw the gap in left center field and reached for it,” Curry recalled. “At 0-2, I was just going to fight off any close pitch. I’ve never struck out looking in three years, so I swing at anything with two strikes. It’s a pretty unbelievable feeling.”
Sophomore second baseman and leadoff hitter Michael Hunter had four of Caribou’s 15 hits, while Curry had three and Berkoski, Huck and Manter two each.
Senior shortstop Matt Milliard tripled, but made his impact defensively with a great diving catch in the second inning and some nifty assists in key situations. The entire Caribou team played error-free baseball throughout the extra-inning contest to back the strong performance on the mound by Curry.
“I give my seniors credit,” said Caribou coach Jimmie Thibodeau. “They kept everybody up in the dugout throughout the game.
“This is amazing for me,” added Thibodeau, who played for the Vikings in the 1970s and like so many players from his era, before and after, never experienced a championship, “but not just for me and the team, but for the community and the school.”
Manter said his team had talked a little during the preseason about trying to win a title, but admitted at the time that “it didn’t seem possible.”
“But we just caught fire at the right time,” he added.
