Houlton, Border League continue diamond pursuits

The 9-10 Little League All-star Tournament started last Saturday at the new Little League fields adjacent to the Houlton Elementary and Southside schools. The Houlton and Border League all-stars now have to fight back from the losers’ bracket in the double elimination tournament.
Due to rain, the Houlton All-stars will play Lincoln on Thursday at 5 p.m., while Border League played Bangor West yesterday. Today’s games are, Millinocket vs. Holbrook and  Old Town vs. Bangor East.
If all the games are played as now scheduled above, the next contests will not be until July 6 at 5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., with Hampden facing Sabasticook  and Hermon taking on Brewer. For more game information, visit the Houlton Little League website at www.eteamz.com/houltonarealittleleague/teams/ and refer to 9-10 Tournament link at the left. Schedule is updated on game day.
In the opening game of the tournament, Hampden defeated Lincoln, 15-4, while in game two, Sabasticook overtook Old Town, 11-1. In the third game, Bangor West toppled Orrington, 15-3 and in game four, Hermon blanked Holbrook, 10-0.
In game five, Houlton overpowered Glenburn, 20-1, with Isaia Bouchard and Zach Cowperthwaite handling the pitching duties. Houlton’s offense was paced by Abe Lorom’s double and triple and Nick Perfitt’s double. Bouchard singled twice, while Cowperthwaite doubled and singled. Zach Hagan also singled in the game.
In game six, Bangor East picked up a lopsided 23-1 victory over Border League, while Hampden won game seven 14-9 over Millinocket. It was an exciting finish for game eight, as Sabasticook used seven innings to outlast Bangor West, 13-12.
In game nine, Houlton was bumped to the losers’ bracket with a 10-6 loss to Hermon.
“The kids played excellent,” said coach Moose Karnes. “They never gave up.”
Houlton led 1-0 in the first, as Hagan singled in Bouchard, who had reached on a base hit and stolen second and third.
In the top of the third, Hermon scored a run on two hits to tie the game. But, Houlton retook the lead, 3-1 after Lorom scored on a passed ball and a fielder’s choice brought in another run.
Hermon tied the game, 3-all, with two runs in the fourth on two hits, along with capitalizing on an error. They took the lead for good in the fifth on a hit and fielder’s choice to score two more runs. Houlton came back to trail, 5-4 when Lorom slid under a tag at home.
There were more miscues for Houlton in the sixth, as Hermon hitters scored five more runs on a double, single, three walks and two errors.
In the bottom of the frame, Houlton’s Cowperthwaite doubled and then Hagan hit another double to drive him in, while Nathan Mooers doubled in Hagan. But, Houlton ended up leaving two runners on base.
“We just didn’t’ get a couple of breaks we needed,” Karnes said.
Overall, Lorom, Hagan and Bouchard each doubled and singled,  while Cowperthwaite and Mooers both doubled and Colby Callnan singled twice.
Pitching for the Houlton all-stars were Lorom, Perfitt and Dillan Buzzell, while Hagan handled behind the plate.
To finish up the games, Brewer defeated Bangor East, 11-1 in game 10, followed by Holbrook overwhelming Glenburn, 24-5 and in a close game, Old Town edged Orrington, 3-2.