Panther boys hoping for another strong playoff run
The defending Eastern Maine Class D champion Central Aroostook Panthers take the No. 2 seed into this year’s playoffs.
jMavor Photography photo
LATE TAG — Fort Fairfield’s Zach Argraves applies the tag at second base on Central Aroostook baserunner Kyle Murray during last Wednesday’s game in Fort Fairfield. The Panthers won, 13-2, and head into the Eastern Maine Class D playoffs as the No. 2-seeded team. They will play No. 7 Bangor Christian Thursday at 2:30 p.m. in Mars Hill in the quarterfinal round of the post-season tournament.
CA closed out a 14-2 regular season last Wednesday with a 13-2 victory at Fort Fairfield. With the loss, the Tigers (6-9) were edged out by just over 1/10th of a point for the ninth and final playoff position.
The Panthers got off to a slow start this season, but rallied to win their final 11 contests. They will host No. 7 Bangor Christian in a 2:30 p.m. contest in Mars Hill Thursday. The winner takes on either No. 3 Wisdom or No. 6 Machias in Saturday’s semifinal round, with the EM championship set for Tuesday at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor.
In regular season action last week, the Caribou Vikings finished on a good note with a 5-0 shutout win over Presque Isle Thursday.
The Vikes outhit the Wildcats, 11-6, to avenge an early-season loss to PI. Royce Landeen struck out six batters and did not allow a walk in seven innings of work to post the pitching victory.
Adam Chartier had two hits and an RBI, Garrett Jordan stroked a pair of run-scoring singles, Stephen St. Peter banged out two doubles and Matt Kamm chipped in with two singles to lead Caribou offensively.
Ryley Norton tripled and doubled for PI and Isaac LaJoie contributed two singles. Saul Nunez suffered the pitching loss, with Wilder York coming on in relief in the fifth inning.
Dave Allen Graphics photo
SECOND BASEMAN Jonah Stephenson of the Presque Isle Wildcats applies a tag to a Caribou baserunner during Thursday’s regular season finale. PI was blanked by the visiting Vikings, 5-0.
Caribou finished at 5-11 and PI at 7-9. Both teams missed out on the EM Class B playoffs, finishing 15th and 14th, respectively. Only the top 10 qualified.
Last Tuesday, Central Aroostook pounded Ashland, 18-6, in a game called after five innings due to the 10-run rule. The Panthers put 11 runs on the scoreboard in the second inning, keyed by a grand slam home run off the bat of Steven Decker, who added a solo homer and a double in the contest.
Brendan York had three hits and two RBIs and Logan McLaughlin a double and a single and two RBIs for CA. Dan Brewer hit a two-run homer.
Royce MacDonald and Brandon Carney both had doubles for the Hornets.
Ashland also made the trip to Stacyville that afternoon to take on Katahdin. The Cougars were easy 30-5 winners, scoring 12 times in the first to set the tone early.
MacDonald and Carney had the only hits in the game for the Hornets, which finished with an 0-15 record.
Limestone-MSSM dropped an 11-10 decision at Madawaska that afternoon. The Owls came back in the contest, scoring four times in the bottom of the seventh inning to force extra innings and then scoring three times in the bottom of the eighth after the Eagles had scored two in the top of the frame.
Bret Butler, Arron St. Pierre, Nate Tucker and Nick Whitehead had two hits apiece for Limestone-MSSM, which ended up with a 6-10 record, in 13th place in EM Class D and out of the post-season picture.
Washburn beat East Grand in its final game of the season in Washburn last Tuesday. It was the Beavers’ third win of the year against 13 losses. Coach Ben Goodwin’s squad came in 15th place in the division.
