The fatal blow came to the Houlton 11-12-year-old all-stars in last Tuesday’s game in Old Town, as they bowed out of the District 3 Little League Tournament.
The Houlton all-stars clutched a one-run lead going into the top of the final inning only to watch the game slip away, 18-10.
Leading Houlton’s offense was Keegan Gentle, who was 4-for-4 from the plate with a grand slam, three-run homer and two singles for seven RBIs. Jason Collett went 3-for-4 with three base hits and Dave Tucker, Jr. hit a homerun to bring in three runs.
Houlton made four errors in the final inning — including an errant infield throw, a dropped ball in the outfield, an overthrow to third and a botched set play where the catcher doesn’t throw all the way to second and the shortstop is to take the throw and fire home to get the breaking base runner — while Old Town connected for two doubles to take a 14-10 lead.
After a hit batsman, a double, two singles and a fielder’s choice, Old Town had extended their lead to 18-10.
In the bottom of the frame, Houlton’s Collett and Gentle each singled, but were left on.
Unfortunately, the final inning overshadowed stellar individual efforts from Devon Campbell — who had not thrown much during regular season, but came up big in Tuesday’s game with seven strikeouts before taxing out his pitch count —Tucker and Gentle — who ripped the cover off the ball.
Old Town took a 3-0 lead to start the game, courtesy of a walk, single, double, wild pitch and passed ball. Houlton answered in the bottom of the first on a three-run bomb over the fence by Tucker, scoring Gentle, who had singled, and Will Austin, who drew a walk.
Campbell set down the Old Town hitters in order in the second and the team got a pick-up off Gentle’s bat to take a 6-3 lead. With two outs, Eli Bulley walked; Collett singled; Alex Wilde was hit by the pitch, and Gentle, with two strikes, crushed the ball for a grand slam over the left field fence.
In the third, Old Town scored three of those runs back on three doubles and went ahead 9-7 after a pair of walks, a single and double in the top of the fourth. But, Gentle hit another three-run homer to give Houlton back the lead, 10-9.
The Houlton 11-12-year-old all-stars made it through the tournament by defeating Orono-Veazie, 16-6, in their first game on June 25 and Lincoln, 12-0 at home in their second matchup on June 27. Their first loss was July 2 to Hermon, 7-3.
