Cougars eliminated from playoffs

    The Katahdin Cougars baseball team had a huge undertaking this year … to defend their Class D Eastern Maine title and make another appearance in the state game.
TAG – Katahdin’s Josh Guiggey applies the tag to a Machias baserunner during last Thursday’s quarterfinal game held in Stacyville. The Cougars won, 10-0, but were eliminated by the Mariners, on Saturday, 3-1.
   In an earlier interview, Katahdin coach Marty McCarthy said, “We would like to defend our title, but we also know there are teams gunning for us. It is not easy to repeat, if it was, a lot more teams would be doing it.”
    The Cougars fell short of their goal last Saturday in the Class D semifinals, as the Deer Isle-Stonington Mariners defeated Katahdin, 3-1 in Stacyville.
    The Mariners (14-4) will meet Shead in the Eastern Maine final. The Cougars wrap up their year with a 13-3 record.
    The game was all it was billed to be. Katahdin ace Andy Kay on the mound facing Deer Isle-Stonington’s top gun Eben Powers and the history of the Cougars and Mariners splitting a doubleheader this season.
DIVING STAB – Katadhin second baseman Kaleb Gallagher made a diving stop on a sharply hit ball during last Thursday’s game against Machias. The Cougars defeated Machias, 10-0, but will not defend their Eastern Maine title, as Deer Isle-Stonington eliminated them Saturday, 3-1.
    The game was scoreless until the sixth inning when the Mariners cracked the scoreboard first with a run. The Cougars came back to tie the game on an Andy Kay run-scoring double. Then several components led up to the decisive seventh inning for the Mariners.
     A hit batsman, followed by a single and a sacrifice bunt put runners in scoring position and Deer Isle-Stonington’s Evan Rollins roped a two-run single to break the 1-1 tie, giving the Mariners the win.
    Powers fired a three-hitter, striking out six and walking three, as his defense was flawless behind him.
    For Katahdin, Kay also threw a three-hitter, with 12 strikeouts and three walks. Katahdin’s Josh Guiggey and Mark McGraw each reached Powers for a single.
    In last Thursday’s Class D quarterfinal, the Cougars disposed of visiting Machias, 10-0 in five innings behind the combined one-hit shutout pitching effort of Kay and Evan McCarthy, who tallied eight strikeouts and two walks.
    The Bulldogs’ Philip Morse reached Katahdin for an infield hit in the fifth.
KATAHDIN BATTERY – At left, Katahdin catcher Evan McCarthy fielded a ball and gets ready to throw to first base, while at right, Cougar ace Andy Kay winds up for the pitch to home. The Cougars were defeated by Deer Isle-Stonington Saturday in the semifinals, 3-1, but blanked Machias in the quarterfinals, 10-0.
    The game was scoreless until timely hitting and base running led to a seven-run Katahdin third inning. Kolby Gallagher keyed the inning with a three-run double. The Cougars finished the Bulldogs in the bottom of the fifth with three more runs.
    Andrew Hawkins and Josh McGraw each drove in a run for Katahdin, with Josh Guiggey and Kay each stroking a single in the win.