A little more than halfway through the softball season and both the Caribou Vikings and Presque Isle Wildcats are in the play-off picture. The Vikings are in sixth place in the Heal Point standings and the Wildcats are in 13th, the last playoff eligible spot in Class B.
Eleven teams make the postseason in Eastern Maine Class D. Currently LCS/MSSM is in first, Ashland is fourth, Central Aroostook ninth and Fort Fairfield in 10th.
The regular season wraps up on May 30.
Here’s a recap of games played through Monday, May 14:
Wisdom 4, Fort Fairfield 3 — At St. Agatha Monday, Ashley Beaulieu struck out 16 to lead the Pioneers by the Tigers.
Rebekah Pelkey singled twice for the Tigers.
Caribou 2, Hermon 0 — At Orono Saturday, the Caribou Vikings handed the Hermon Hawks their first loss of the season, 2-0, in game two of their doubleheader at the University of Maine’s Kessock Field.
Hermon pitcher Abby Burgess was tough through the first six innings, but the Caribou bats broke through in the seventh with three hits and two runs to push the Vikings to victory.
After Jordyn Doucette walked to lead off the seventh, Rebecca McDougal doubled for the Vikings to put runners on second and third. Caribou pitcher Emily Staples stepped in and ripped an infield single to the shortstop hole that scored Doucette to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead. Kelsie Espling made it 2-0 with an RBI single to help seal the win.
With the split, Hermon now stands at 8-1 and Caribou is 7-2.
Hermon 1, Caribou 0 — The first game came down to the last inning as well, but this time it was Hermon getting the best of Caribou. Burgess kept the Vikings’ bats silenced again, while Staples did the same to the Hawks.
Staples ran into trouble in the seventh, however, as Hermon produced lengthy at-bats to eventually load the bases. Katie Kivler stepped up next for the Hawks and drew a walk that brought in the winning run from third.
MDI 8, Presque Isle 1 — At Presque Isle Saturday, the Wildcats split a doubleheader with MDI.
In the first game Hannah Shaw struck out 16 Wildcats to gain the win.
Presque Isle 7, MDI 6 — In the second game, Presque Isle squeaked out a one-run win over the Trojans.
Presque Isle improved their record to 4-5.
Ashland 23, Fort Fairfield 10 — At Ashland Friday, the Hornets struck for 12 runs in the bottom of the first inning and rolled past the Tigers.
Paradis led Ashland (4-4) with a triple, a double, a single and four RBIs. Gillis and Macie Bellanceau each had a triple. Kayla Cote picked up the win.
Pelkey slugged a triple and three singles for Fort Fairfield (3-3), Alyssa Dougherty posted two singles and Abby Player had a double.
Caribou 16, Fort Kent 0 — The Caribou Vikings upped their record to 6-1 behind a strong pitching performance by Staples.
Staples struck out 13 Warriors and Caribou got a balanced offense to secure the win on the road last Wednesday.
LCS/MSSM 19, Madawaska 18 — At Limestone May 8, Jordyn Hopkins’ two-run triple tied the game and Stephanie Leighton’s RBI single won it to highlight an eight-run seventh inning for the Eagles.
Hopkins finished with four RBIs as she blasted a two-run home run in the fifth for the 6-1 winners. Melissa Cantafio chipped in with two singles, a double and three RBIs while Danielle Pelkey added a single, two doubles and an RBI. Leighton finished with two singles.
