Panthers blast Mariners to claim Class D regional win

Panthers blast Mariners to claim Class D regional win

By Joseph Cyr

    BANGOR — There is an adage in sports that “defense wins championships.” While that certainly is the case, having a prolific offense doesn’t hurt either. Just ask the Central Aroostook baseball team. 

    The No. 2 Panthers blanked No. 5 Deer Isle-Stonington 10-0 Wednesday at Mansfield Stadium to collect the Eastern Class D championship. With the win, CAHS (16-3 overall) captured its first regional championship since 2003.
    Central Aroostook faced Richmond Saturday for the state Class B title. [See accompanying story.]
    Coming into the game, Panther coach Brent York was concerned that the Mariners (11-8 overall) might stifle his high-powered offense. After all, Deer Isle Stonington advanced to the regional final with a 1-0 victory over top-ranked Shead. Deer Isle also had history on its side, winning three state titles in five years.
    All of York’s concerns were easily assuaged, as Central Aroostook’s bats remained alive and well, pounding out nine hits en route to the shutout victory. The game was stopped via the mercy rule in the bottom of the sixth inning once CAHS took a 10-0 lead.
    Panther senior Kasey Brewer got the job done with his arm and bat as he tossed the complete game, allowing two hits and three walks, with one strikeout. Brewer faced just 24 batters – six over the minimum for six innings. He also blasted a solo home run and added a single, while scoring two of his team’s 10 runs.
    Senior catcher Mitch Folsom and sophomore second baseman Brendan York each tripled and singled, while senior center fielder Garret Stiles, junior third baseman Logan McLaughlin and senior right fielder Logan Thomas each had one single.
    “It feels awesome,” Kasey Brewer said. “We came into the game confident, but a little concerned. They [Deer Isle] beat the No. 1 team 1-0, so that had us wondering what they had for pitching. We have been hitting the ball extremely well. The whole lineup has really been stepping up.”
    For Deer Isle, Connor Morey, Deven Haskell and Sam Grindle each had one single. The Mariners sent three pitchers to the mound in a failed attempt to silence the Panthers’ bats. Evan Rollins took the loss as he surrendered eight runs (one earned) on six hits and three walks, with four strikeouts in four mound innings. Morey tossed one and a third relief innings allowing two earned runs on two hits and two walks, with one strikeout. Grindle pitched in the bottom of the sixth, giving up the game-winning single to York.
    “We are a senior-led team and a lot of these kids have been here before,” Deer Isle coach Darren Eaton said. “They [Central Aroostook] pounded the ball, but we knew that coming into the game. Our pitchers couldn’t throw strikes today and our fielding killed us.”
    “The errors and walks hurt us in previous games, but not today,” coach York said. “We didn’t give them [Deer Isle] easy opportunities. We didn’t give them extra outs.”
    CAHS plated one run in the bottom of the first inning when Stiles reached via a walk, stole second and went to third as the throw from Mariner catcher Morey sailed into center field. Stiles scored when McLaughlin reached on an error.
    The Panthers broke open the game in the bottom of the second inning, plating six runs to take a commanding 7-0 lead. In that inning, Mike McClung reached on an error when Mariner first baseman Hayden Ciomei dropped the relay throw to first. Thomas advanced McClung when he hit a dribble between the mound and first base and nobody covered the bag at first. Following a strikeout, Dan Brewer drew a walk loading the bases. Stiles followed with another walk, plating McClung.
    McLaughlin hit a grounder to the shortstop, who tagged Dan Brewer as he ran by, with McLaughlin reaching base and Thomas scoring on the play. With runners at first and second, Kasey Brewer ripped a single, scoring Stiles. Folsom then tripled to the left center field, scoring Stiles and McLaughlin. York blasted a triple over the right fielder’s head, scoring Folsom.
    “Hopefully we can replicate this effort on Saturday,” coach York said. “If we do, we have a real good shot in that game.”
    York said he was surprised the Mariners left their starting pitcher in for as long as they did.
    “We were hitting him [Rollins] pretty hard, so I was kind of surprised they left him out there,” coach York said.
    Kasey Brewer said he felt strong on the mound against the Mariners and hoped his coach would let him finish out the game.
    “There was no chance I was coming off that mound,” he said. “I knew as long as I could keep the ball across the plate, everything would work out. It worked out perfectly.”
    Brewer added his two-seam fastball and curveball were essentially the only pitches he threw at the Mariners, but it was the movement on his fastball that kept them off balance.
    “My fastball was tailing a lot today, so they were hitting over the top of it, creating a lot of ground ball outs,” he said. “My curveball was hanging a bit today, so I basically just stuck with the two-seam.”
    The Panthers played Wednesday’s game without the services of starting left fielder, senior Will Delong, who was diagnosed earlier in the week with mononucleosis. Filling Delong’s shoes in the outfield was freshman Dylan Murray.
    Just how great has the Panther offense been this year? In 16 regular season games, CAHS outscored opponents 213-53. Factor in the postseason, and the Panthers have outscored foes 252-75.
    Technically, CAHS has only been beaten twice on the season, as one of the Panthers’ three losses was a forfeit due to the team using a pitcher who was ineligible to pitch in the second game of a doubleheader, based on a player exceeding the allotted number of innings pitched.