Sports Editor
MARS HILL, Maine — For just the third time in school history, the Central Aroostook baseball will be vying for an Eastern Class D championship when the Panthers take on Deer Isle-Stonington Wednesday.
Scoring runs has not been a problem thus far for CAHS. In its two previous playoffs, the Panthers have amassed a whopping 29 runs, but have also allowed 22 runs to opponents. Coach Brent York knows his team will need to do better against Deer Isle-Stonington when the two meet Wednesday afternoon at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor for the Eastern Class D title. No. 2 Central Aroostook (15-3 overall) faces No. 5 Deer Isle-Stonington (11-7) at 3 p.m.
Central Aroostook advanced to the regional championship with a 13-11 victory over No. 3 Southern Aroostook Saturday, while the Mariners beat No. 1 Shead 1-0. CAHS also advanced to the regional title game in 2003 and 1996.
“We didn’t face Deer Isle during the season,” York said. “They were a middle-of-the-pack kind of team to start the season, but then they played pretty strong over the last half of the season.”
To be successful against the Mariners, coach York said the Panther pitching staff will need to cut down on walks and errors.
“We can’t walk eight guys in a championship game,” he said. “I’m assuming they [Deer Isle] have good pitching and defense, based on the score of their previous game. We’ve relied on hitting the ball, but if we run into a team that has a strong pitching staff and doesn’t make many errors, it will be tougher.”
York said several Panthers have played at Mansfield Stadium before during American Legion baseball action, so familiarity with the field could be a benefit. The Panthers last regional crown came in 2003. No CAHS baseball team has ever won a state title.
Against Southern Aroostook Saturday, the Panthers jumped to a quick 5-0 lead after one inning of play, but SACS rallied with a six-run second inning.
“They [SACS] had some costly errors in the first inning which allowed us to get some runs on the board,” York said. “Mitch Folsom was the key for us on the mound. He pretty much shut them down from the third inning on. He walked a few, but he spread them out pretty well.”
Dan Brewer had a solo home run — his second of the postseason — and added two doubles and a single to spark the Panthers offensively. Mitch Folsom and Brendan York each had two singles.
Cody Robinson led SAHS with a three-run home run, while Pat Goodall and Jesse Small each had an RBI-double.
On the mound, Logan McLaughlin (four hits, four walks, four strikeouts in two-and-two-thirds innings) and Folsom (two hits, four walks, eight strikeouts in four-and-one-third innings) shared pitching duties for CAHS.
“Mitch did a real good job closing out the game for us,” coach York said.
Dakota Sleeper pitched the loss for SAHS allowing 12 hits and four walks, with eight strikeouts.
It is probably a good thing that home run balls are not given to the hitters at Central Aroostook. If they had, there may have been a shortage of baseballs in Thursday’s Eastern Class B quarterfinal.
No. 2 Central Aroostook edged No. 7 Machias 16-11 in a slugfest featuring six home runs. The Panthers (14-3 overall) played No. 3 Southern Aroostook (14-1) Saturday in the semifinals.
A swift wind blowing to left center field helped launch the deep ball for both squads. Central Aroostook blasted four home runs while Machias went deep twice.
Logan McLaughlin paced Central Aroostook with two home runs and four runs scored. Dan Brewer and Garrett Stiles also had home runs. Logan Thomas added a double and two singles, while Brendan York had two singles and Kasey Brewer, Mitch Folsom and Mike McClung each had one single.
“We knew they had scored a ton of runs in every game,” Machias coach Scott Whitney said. “We knew they were a terrific hitting team and they certainly proved it today.”
For Machias, Sam Whitney had a home run and two singles; Philip Morse had a home run; Matt Jenkins doubled and singled; Jacob Scoville had two singles; and Jay Beal had one single.
“I wasn’t expecting this much offense,” coach York said. “The wind certainly was a factor today. We have never had that many home runs in a single game before.”
Saturday Semifinal
Warriors 061 003 1 — 11 6 5
Panthers 510 232 x — 13 12 3
Wednesday Quarterfinal
Bulldogs 243 020 0 — 11 11 3
Panthers 336 301 x — 16 12 3
