CARIBOU, Maine — Both Sleepers and Hannaford have a strong tradition in the Caribou Little League, especially over the past decade. In each of the last 10 years, one of the teams has advanced into the championship series and last week, the teams squared off against each other to decide the title.
The series did not disappoint as it came down to the final inning of Friday’s third and decisive game before a winner was declared. Hannaford ended up with the victory in that game to prevail in the best two-of-three series.
Hannaford trailed 8-1 after three innings before storming back. After stranding nine baserunners over those first three frames, Hannaford was able to come up with several key run-scoring hits in the fourth and fifth innings.
They closed the gap to 9-6 after four innings with a rally capped by a two-run double off the bat of Jonah Thayer. The next inning, Hannaford batted around the order to score seven times to go up, 13-9. The big hit was a three-run homer by Miles Collier which tied the game.
Sleepers wouldn’t go quietly as they plated a run in the top of the sixth and had two runners on before Hannaford’s Ethan Holdsworth took matters into his own hands. He caught a pop fly for the first out and fielded a ground ball and made the assist on his throw to first base for the second out. Then, on a 3-2 count, he struck out the final batter to end the game and the celebration was on as Hannaford earned the title for the first time since 2009.
Sleepers moved out in front early as Logan Green ripped a three-run homer in the first inning. The American Division champs scored five more runs in the opening three innings, with Devin White, Hayden Hunter and Keenen McDougall all contributing by reaching base a combined eight times and scoring six runs.
Destinee Goodridge started on the mound for Hannaford and went the first three innings before giving way to Holdsworth, who struck out seven and allowed only one hit during his three-inning stint to earn the victory.
Offensively, Sawyer Deprey went 4 for 5 with two doubles, and Goodridge, Thayer and Jaden Picard all had three hits to lead Hannaford. Collier added two hits and four RBI and Holdsworth chipped in with a pair of hits.
White was the starting pitcher for Sleepers and benefited from some excellent defense by McDougall and Ezra Judd to help build the early lead. However, the Hannaford offense proved to be too much to handle in the end.
To open the series last Tuesday, Hannaford scored nine times in the first two innings and went on to a 12-6 triumph. Holdsworth, Collier and Picard all doubled, while Thayer added a two-run single and Goodridge and Deprey also had hits. Collier had a stellar outing in relief of starter Deprey. Collier posted 10 strikeouts during his stint.
Sleepers’ White hit a two-run homer in the first inning, but Hannaford’s infield defense prevented any other big scoring rallies.
Last Wednesday, Sleepers was able to pull out a 5-4 decision. Hunter was able to outduel Deprey in a classic pitching matchup. Hunter struck out 11 batters in his 5-⅔ innings of work and Deprey fanned eight over 4-⅔ innings. Sleepers garnered the walk-off win as McDougall delivered the tie-breaking run thanks to a fielding error by Hannaford in the bottom of the sixth.
