The end of the baseball regular season is just two weeks away, and many of the local teams have some work to do to move into playoff positions.
The exception is the Central Aroostook Panthers, who were tagged for their first loss of the season in the second game of a doubleheader played Friday against GHCA but are still 9-1 overall and in second place in Eastern Maine Class D. They trail only Shead, the team that knocked CA out of the playoffs last year in the semifinal round. The Tigers stand at 8-1 with 39.3859 tournament index points. The Panthers are close behind with 36.1998 points.
On the outside looking in in Class D are 12th-place Fort Fairfield (3-5, 6.381), 13th-place Ashland (3-5, 5.131), 14th-place Limestone-MSSM (2-7, 3.75) and 17th-place Washburn (1-10). The top nine teams will reach the playoffs.
For Class B, Presque Isle and Caribou squared off last night for the first time this season, and although both have posted solid records, need to keep winning to gain tourney slots.
Presque Isle was 6-3 and ninth in EM Class B heading into last night’s game. Their tournament index is 30.6641. Caribou, at 5-2 and in 15th place, has 17.9688 points. Waterville leads the division at 10-1 and 69.7266 points. Only the 10 teams qualify for the post-season.
The following are summaries of games played through Monday, May 17:
Wisdom 16, Fort Fairfield 5 – At Fort Fairfield Monday, the host Tigers held a 5-1 lead before Wisdom put 14 runs on the board in the top of the sixth inning to gain the win.
Landon Keizer had a double and a single and Tyler Churchill contributed an RBI single for the Tigers.
Southern Aroostook 23, Ashland 3 – The Warriors had no trouble with the Hornets in Ashland Monday, using a 17-hit attack and taking advantage of nine Hornet errors to come out on top.
Chris Casey blasted a grand slam and finished with three hits and six RBIs for the Warriors, who improved to 8-1.
Dylan Cyr-Cormier had an RBI single to lead the Hornets at the plate.
Washburn 19, Limestone-MSSM 13 – The Beavers broke into the victory column for the first time this season Monday at home, outslugging the Eagles.
Chris Farley had four singles, scored four runs and drove in two runs to pace Washburn’s 15-hit attack. Nick Bragg drove in three runs on a pair of singles and also scored three runs, while Justin Howe had two hits and drove in three.
Nate Berube had two doubles and Dylan Morgan homered for Limestone-MSSM.
John Bapst 8, Presque Isle 2 – The Crusaders took game one of Saturday’s twinbill in Bangor on the strength of a big offensive performance by Bill Weatherbee, who tripled, doubled, singled twice and drove home two runs.
Brennen Shaw had two singles and Ethan Braley chipped in with an RBI double for the Wildcats.
Presque Isle 11, John Bapst 5 – The Wildcats came back to earn the split as PI scored nine second-inning runs en route to the win. Dillon Kingsbury had two hits and three RBIs to lead the way. Matt Chasse doubled and singled and Amos Dean rapped out a pair of hits for PI. Both also had RBIs in the contest as Shaw posted the complete-game pitching win.
Central Aroostook 20, GHCA 1 – The Panthers took advantage of the wildness of Eagle pitching to pick up the decisive win in game one of a doubleheader played Friday in Mars Hill.
CA ran their record to 9-0 by plating 10 runs in the second inning, sending 16 batters to the plate. Four of them walked, while Will Delong had a pair of hits in the frame. Darrin Murray, Dan Brewer, Stiles, Logan McLaughlin, Kasey Brewer and York also delivered run-scoring hits in the inning.
GHCA 7, Central Aroostook 0 – Game two was actually tied 10-10 before being suspended in the sixth inning, but a violation of the pitching rule allowed GHCA to come away with the forfeit victory.
Limestone-MSSM 16, Washburn 6 – On Friday in Limestone, Aaron St. Pierre and Nate Tucker limited the Beavers to six hits as the Eagles prevailed.
St. Pierre had three hits, while Ty Tracy, Nick Whitehead and Morgan also had three hits apiece for the Eagles.
Farley and Bragg posted two hits each for the Beavers.
Ashland 12, Washburn 1 – The Hornets eased past Washburn Thursday behind Jordan Beaulier, who not only was the winning pitcher but also led the offense with four singles and two RBIs and two runs scored.
Amos Ward had three singles for the winners, while Sal Viola recorded two of the five hits for the Beavers.
Fort Fairfield 10, Van Buren 3 – The Tigers defeated Van Buren Thursday as Keizer had three hits and two RBIs and Josh Churchill and Josh Dillon both had two hits.
Central Aroostook 6, Washburn 1 – Last Wednesday in Mars Hill, the Beavers were held without a hit by the pitching duo of Brendan York and Dan Brewer.
Logan McLaughlin had two hits and scored twice for the Panthers, while Garrett Stiles had two singles and an RBI and York added a triple. Sal Viola, Farley and Tony Viola combined on the pitching duties for Washburn.
Limestone-MSSM 19, Ashland 9 – At Limestone last Wednesday, Austin Dow Smith knocked in four runs with two singles and a double to lead the Eagles.
Lucas Hafford had a double and a single to pace Ashland.
Presque Isle 11, Houlton 1 – Shaw had two hits and drove in a pair of runs, while Kingsbury and Chasse combined on a five-hitter in a game played last Wednesday that was called after five innings due to the 10-run rule.
Chasse added two hits and Isaac LaJoie doubled for the winners.
Parker Sanderson had two hits to pace the Shires.
Central Aroostook 9, Southern Aroostook 1 – The Panthers faced their first tough test of the season, but passed with ease as McLaughlin allowed just two hits in the complete-game pitching performance.
The Panthers scored four times in the fourth inning at Dyer Brook last Tuesday to break open a close game. McLaughlin had three hits and Mitch Folsom had two hits and two RBIs for the winners.
Ashland 12, Van Buren 10 – Hafford hit a walk-off grand slam homer in the bottom of the seventh as the Hornets defeated the Crusaders last Tuesday.
Hafford had a homer earlier in the game and also notched a pair of singles. Casey Cobb had two hits and Andrew Libby homered for the winners.
Presque Isle 8, Mattanawcook 0 – Shaw was impressive on the mound, blanking the Lynx on three hits, striking out 10 along the way, as the Wildcats were victorious.
Shaw had a double and a single to lead PI at the plate. LaJoie and Zac Campbell both had two hits for the ’Cats.
Hodgdon 10, Fort Fairfield 2 – The Hawks won as Chris Wallace blanked the visiting Tigers over the final four innings.
Austin Bixler had two doubles and a single for the Tigers.
