It’s down to the final two teams for the Caribou Little League title. Sleepers is playing Savings Bank of Maine in a best of three series for the title.
jMavor Photography photo
Connor Plourde, catcher for K of C, is too late in tagging Stewert Curtis at the plate, after he hit a triple and reached home on an error. Curtis had a great game for the Sleepers team going 5 for 5 in their bid for championship play. Sleepers moves on after a 14 to 1 win over K of C.
Results of Caribou Little League playoff games played through July 15: VFW 10, Shop ‘n Save 9; Police 6, Woodland Eagles 0; North Stars 32, Woodland Tigers 9; Sleepers 19, North Stars 12; K of C 15, Key Bank 10; Savings Bank of ME 12, Police 0; and S.W. Collins 21, VFW 6.
In the National Division Championship game Savings Bank of Maine defeated S.W. Collins four to three and in the American Division Championship Sleepers topped K of C by a score of 14 to one.
Game two of the Championship Series is Wednesday, July 20. Game three, if necessary, is Friday, July 22.
Here’s a summary of some recent games:
North Stars 32, Woodland Tigers 9
In quarterfinal action the Tigers were quick to have base runners in the first inning of play against the North Stars in Stockholm with singles from Cameron Doody and Garrison Doody. Garrison Doody, however, was caught stealing thanks to the defensive duo of catcher Josh Quist and pitcher Noah Hixon. Carson Doody came to the plate looking to safely drive home Cameron Doody and with and 0-2 count lifted the ball deep over the right field fence for a homerun giving the Tigers an early 2-0 lead. Responding with an explosion of hits, patient at-bats, and smart base running the North Stars put up 12 runs in the bottom of the first and would prove to be too much for the Tigers.
With 27 hits and striking out only four times the North Stars would go on to win 32-9 over the Woodland Tigers. Leading the North Stars with six hits each were Austin Findlen and Noah Hixon. Findlen connected for three doubles and three singles while Hixon tripled, doubled, and singled four times. Devon Chamberland slammed out two doubles and three singles. Josh Quist tripled, doubled, and singled while Kendra Furber had three singles. Kenneth Thompson singled twice. Emily Adler and Calvin Mokler also singled for the North Stars. Alex Bouchard scored four times after being hit by a pitch and walking three times. Hitting for the Tigers included Carson Doody who added a single to his earlier homerun. Garrison Doody singled three times going three-for-three for the game. In addition to his second inning single Brandon Manter’s triple helped the Tigers score six runs in the fifth. Pitching for the North Stars were Noah Hixon, Alex Bouchard, Josh Quist, Austin Findlen, and Devon Chamberland who combined for 9 strikeouts to take the win.
Sleepers 14, K of C 1
For the fourth time this season the Knights of Columbus squared off against the Sleepers team.
For the most important game of the American League so far, the Sleepers team played their best. The game started off quick with a first pitch ground ball fielded by Sleepers catcher Cole Jackson whom made a great play and great throw to first base. Mason Huck took care of the next two outs on strike outs.
In the bottom of the first inning Sleepers came out swinging. Three singles by Camden Huck, Stewert Curtis and Mason Huck put the Sleepers team up 1-0. In the top of the second inning K of C tried to get things going on a deep hit fly ball to center field by Nic Sleeper, however Stewert Curtis had other ideas catching the first out of the second inning. Mason Huck took the next two with an assist to his brother Camden Huck and another strike out.
In the bottom of the inning Emma Belyea got things going with a ground ball single up the middle. Alec Cyr added a walk, followed by singles from Camden Huck and Stewert Curtis, which put up 3 more runs. In the end this proved to be all Sleepers needed. Sleeper’s defense set the tone the rest of the night with key outs by Jacob Ouellette, Spenser McDuffie and Emma Belyea helping Mason Huck with a 1 hit, 9 strike-out complete game. Kara Madore had her first career 2 hit game and first year players Brandon Jalbert, Jay Belanger and Chris Cassidy all reached base safely to support their team.
For K of C Gabe Rand had the lone hit of the night.
Savings Bank of Maine 4, S.W. Collins 3
When Savings Bank of Maine and S.W. Collins squared off this past Friday evening, the entire crowd was in awe of the hard-played baseball that has become a staple of any meeting between the two. Having both early decisions decided by two runs or less, Savings Bank took the third meeting with some solid pitching and well-timed hitting late in the game to pull out the 4-3 victory over their National League rival.
Both teams put their pair of aces on the mound for the game. Savings Bank led off with the hard-throwing Jacob Burby. Burby struck out nine batters – giving up two hits and allowing just one run. His relief, Caleb Willett, closed out the game nicely to collect the win. Willett struck out eight of the batters he faced – allowing two runs and just one hit.
Their S.W. Collins counterparts had a pretty solid day overall as well. Donovan Savage took the hill first for Collins. Savage struck out six batters – allowing two earned runs on five hits. Fourth year player Gabe Massey attempted to hold on as the game was tied upon entering. Massey struck out six batters as well – allowing two runs on just two hits. It was Massey’s first loss of the season.
Both teams worked hard to get hits – but none more than the Collins team. The hits came the non-usual suspects as Chandler Bell registered a great hit in the bottom of the 2nd to score Collins first run. Bell drove in Daniel Randolph to collect his second RBI of the season. Nick Allen and Dagan Savage scored the other two Collins runs. Savage scored on a fielder’s choice RBI from Zach Wright – while Nick Allen moved around the bases on errant throws. Zach Wright went 1 for 3 with a double.
The Savings Bank bats came alive in the top of the 4th as Jacob Burby and Spencer St. Peter logged a pair of hits to reach base safely. Both runners eventually scored. St. Peter finished 3 for 3 with a run and two RBIs while Burby went 2 for 3 with two runs and a RBI. Also collecting timely hits for the Savings Bank team were Andy Russell and Sebastian Marquis – allowing Savings Bank to extend some key innings.
