Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – The Viking and Wildcat rivalry played out on the softball and baseball diamonds under the lights at Presque Isle High School on May 20. A duo of decisive plays put Caribou on top and gave them the bragging rights of the first seasonal match.
Staff photo/Meridith Paterson
Viking pitcher Philip St. Peter prepares his pitch during the Caribou Presque Isle game.
Pitching and defense at the softball field kept the game in low digits as Viking Serena Grier and Wildcat Krista Coffin threw for their teams.
Presque Isle had the lead up to the top of the seventh inning when Grier hit an RBI to tie the game, and Katie Ouellette crossed home to give Caribou a 3-2 lead. Presque Isle couldn’t recover in their final round at the plate.
Caribou coach Ryan Deprey approved of the defensive play during the game. “Defensively we’re better when Serena’s pitching because I can put Ashley Doucette and Kristen Espling in the left infield,” explained Deprey. “We knew we needed to make them hit, and that they don’t play very many long balls. So, we needed to keep making sound plays.”
Doucette hit a double and Grier added a single for the Vikings.
Coffin led PIHS offense with an RBI double.
Presque Isle and Caribou kept each other in check on the baseball field through the first three innings of play. The bottom of the third ended with a Wildcat advantage 3-2. In the top of the fourth Jarryd Rossignol blasted a home run to push three runs past home and gave the Vikings a boost toward the eventual 15-4 final.
“We had things going the first three innings,” said Presque Isle coach Tim Olore. “We were playing small ball, but then we gave them three outs an inning … They capitalized on that.”
Caribou’s Eric Brown singled twice and doubled while teammate Pat Thibodeau doubled twice in the victory. Mike Doucette doubled and singled for CHS.
Philip St. Peter pitched a full seven innings for Caribou partnered with catcher Seth Sager. “He has a good fastball, change up and curve ball to keep batters off balance,” commented Caribou coach Jimmie Thibodeau about the Viking defense. “A good defense behind a pitcher can really help, and that’s what Caribou has been doing very well.”
According to Olore, PIHS pitchers Brennen Shaw and Ethan Braley also put in top pitching performances combining for eight strikes. At bat, Presque Isle’s Adam Kingsbury singled three times, and Braley doubled twice. Bennett Cassidy added a double, and Steve Ford hit two singles.
Vikings pull one away from Lynx
Caribou baseball and softball met with Mattanawcook in Saturday’s Class B doubleheader at the Viking diamonds.
On the baseball field, the Vikings ran the bases in the third inning to take the first game 3-1. Caribou’s Thibodeau struck out five while allowing one run on three hits. Jon Noyes doubled for two runs, and Cameron Anderson singled twice for the victors.
The Lynx clawed back in the second game for a 5-2 win. Thibodeau led Caribou with two singles and one RBI. Rossignol posted an RBI triple.
In softball action, Caribou fell to the Lynx 4-3 in the opener and 13-1 in the final game.
Ali Richards doubled and singled twice, and Grier doubled in the first game. Doucette, Chelsea Bouchard and Grier all hit one single in the second game.
Memorial Day doubleheader
Viking baseball fought back from a first game defeat to score four runs in the seventh inning and post a 9-8 victory over Ellsworth on Monday. Rossignol hit a single for two runs in the critical inning.
Thibodeau posted four singles, and Jon Noyes hit a grand slam for two runs. Rossignol singled twice, and Matt Kinney hit a double, single and RBI in the win.
In the first game (11-5), Noyes tripled for two runs, and Kinney doubled for two runs. Caribou baseball moved to 8-7 after the split.
Viking softball fell to Ellsworth in their holiday doubleheader 4-3 in the first and 19-3 in the second to bring their season record to 4-10.
Espling swung for a home run and a single while Brittany Doak singled for two runs in the first game. Kylee Landeen hit two singles while Grier posted two singles and one RBI in the second game.
Staff photo/Meridith Paterson
Viking Ali Richards at bat for CHS during a recent home game.
