Greenville overpowers Katahdin in state game

Piscataquis Observer photograph/Stuart Hedstrom
LEANS BACK — Katahdin’s Jesse McNally leans back to make the grab on a pop fly during the Class D state game.
By Stuart Hedstrom
Special to the Pioneer Times
    STANDISH — With the best teams from the separate West and East regions facing off, Maine high school championship games can often be difficult to forecast. A contest featuring the two No. 1 baseball seeds may be prognosticated as a low-scoring affair, behind top pitching and defense that are usually essential to any title hopes in the sport.
    No one likely could have come close to correctly forecasting the end result of the 2011 Class D State Championship during the early afternoon of June 18 at St. Joseph’s College as Western Maine representative Greenville crushed East champ Katahdin High School of Stacyville 17-3 in just five innings on account of the 10-run mercy rule. The Lakers (15-2) exploded for 10 runs in the bottom of the fourth, one more than the single-digit inning by inning scoreboard had room for.
    The Laker offense got going early against the Cougars (13-4) of northern Penobscot County as junior Steven Bilodeau was awarded first base with one out after getting plunked by a pitch from Katahdin senior Cody Cunningham. Cunningham got Laker senior Tony DiAngelo to fly out in foul territory near first base, but senior Kevin Stafford followed by singling to center field and moving Bilodeau over to third base.
    Cunningham hit his second hitter of the inning, and junior Nathan Fenn went to first to load the bases. Junior Shawn Mills followed by drawing a walk, but Katahdin had no place to put him as Bilodeau came home for the first run of the game. Following a 3-2 count freshman Matthew DiAngelo drew ball four to bring home Stafford for the 2-0 advantage.
    Senior Bryce Breton rang up a 3-0 count on Cunningham — who got the start after Katahdin senior ace Brandon Robinson was unavailable for mound duty after he threw all nine innings in the Eastern Maine championship less than 72 hours prior to Saturday — before Cougar coach Martin McCarthy decided to make the pitching change.
    Senior Mark McGraw got the ball, but his first pitch was outside to walk Breton and score Fenn for the third Laker run. McGraw got out of the inning when sophomore Tristan Richards’ grounded out, but the Lakers had a 3-0 advantage after the team’s first trip to the plate.
    Katahdin got two runs back in the second as Robinson scored on a throwing error by Mills at shortstop and when sophomore Spencer Anderson dropped a single into center field to drive in senior Mickey Savage.
    The lead was extended to two for the second time in the home half of the second when junior Christopher Munro, who returned to action for the first time after missing much of the season with a broken jaw he sustained when he was hit by a line drive in batting practice, scored on a sacrifice fly to deep left field by DiAngelo.
    Greenville made a two-out single by Robinson and subsequent steal of second in the third — one of only four hits given up by Laker senior ace Jeremy St. Louis as he improved his record to a perfect 7-0 — go to waste as Cunningham then hit a fly ball to Richards in center field. The outfielder located the ball amidst the bright sun in the cloudless sky, and it fell into his glove for the third out.
    The bottom of the third began decently enough for the Cougars as Mills grounded out. Freshman Matthew DiAngelo then hit a ball that fell onto the grass over the head of Anderson in deep right field and senior Bryce Breton walked to put a pair of Lakers on.
    Richards hit a double toward the fence in center field and DiAngelo turned at third at kept going for the fifth Greenville run. Munro hit a double himself to drive in Breton for another run.
    With Bilodeau in the batter’s box, Katahdin made another pitching change by bringing Anderson in from right field. Bilodeau reached on error in left field, and Richards scored on the play. Tony DiAngelo then collected an RBI single to shallow right field as Munro scored run No. 8 to double Greenville’s total from when it entered the inning.
    Stafford then hit a grounder to shortstop but Robinson’s throw toward second for the force out sailed into right field to enable the hitter to reach and for Bilodeau to come home. Stafford then was lifted for senior pinch runner Zachary Flood, and Fenn walked to load the bases.
    The Cougars’ musical chairs at pitcher continued with junior Jesse McNally being handed the ball, but he fared no better by walking Mills to score Tony DiAngelo. His younger brother Matthew then singled, and got to second on a throwing error, to drive in Flood and Fenn for the 11th and 12th runs.
    Cunningham got another try on the mound, but he ended up walking senior pinch hitter Kyle Bartlett to load the bases. He struck out Richards for the second out, but Munro got a base hit up the middle to score both Mills and Matthew DiAngelo for the ninth and 10th runs of the inning and to put the Greenville total at 14. Cunningham followed by striking out Bilodeau to conclude the inning after 15 Lakers had stepped into the batter’s box.
    With the potential to wrap the game up in five innings, the Lakers used a 1,2,3 top of the fourth inning to keep the Cougars off the base paths.
    Greenville added three more runs in the bottom of the fourth behind a trio of runs coming on walks with the bases loaded.
    Katahdin senior Kolby Gallagher got hit No. 2 for his team to lead off the fifth when he dropped a single beyond first base. St. Louis followed by striking out senior pinch hitter Christopher Cloukey, after Gallagher was able to swipe second base.
    McGraw then hit a St. Louis pitch on the infield grass, where Bilodeau scooped it up near second and threw to Munro at first for the out. Gallagher was off with the pitch, and he ended up scoring on the play to make the game 17-3.
    Cougar junior Kyle McCarthy chalked up a 3-2 count as a pinch hitter, and on the sixth pitch of the at-bat he swung and missed for strike three to seal Greenville’s first state championship in any sport since the President George H.W. Bush was in the White House when the baseball team won its only state title with the Class D crown in 1990 8-3 over Richmond High School.
    The 17 runs were the most in the Class D championship game since North Yarmouth Academy tallied 18 in an 18-1 win over Central Aroostook High School of Mars Hill in 2003. The 20 combined runs were the most since Jonesport-Beals High School got past Richmond High School 11-9 in 1995. Greenville’s run total was the most in 2011, and ninth time the Lakers reached double-digits this season.