CARIBOU, Maine — Cole Jackson of Sleepers hit a fly ball single to right field in the bottom of the sixth inning to drive in Alec Cyr with the winning run to give Sleepers a 9-8 victory over VFW in game two of the Caribou Little League championship series Thursday.
Jackson’s hit capped a three-run rally by Sleepers after VFW had forged ahead with a four-run top of the sixth inning.
With the victory, Sleepers won the best-of-three series in two games, capping off a 13-1 regular season and earning their second championship in three years.
In last Wednesday’s first game, Sleepers gave up three first-inning runs, but then scored six unanswered for the 6-3 triumph. Cyr twice came up with clutch two-out hits, each driving in two runs to power the Sleepers offense. Jacob Ouellette also had two hits, while Camden Huck, Spenser McDuffie and Jackson had doubles.
On the mound, Huck pitched the first four innings and earned the victory for Sleepers. Stewart Curtis held VFW for 1-2/3 innings before Cyr got the final out to earn the save.
For VFW, Evan Desmond and Matt Nadeau hit back-to-back doubles to score VFW’s first run, and two runs later scored on a infield error. Desmond finished with two hits and Jerred Morrow and Brandyn Matheson added singles. VFW starter Morrow pitched five strong innings, while Desmond pitched the sixth.
The following night, VFW jumped out to an early lead with a two-run single by Morrow in the top of the first inning. Sleepers answered in the bottom of the first with a two-run home run by Huck over the right-center field fence and an RBI single by Hayden Hunter to take a 3-2 lead.
Sleepers scored two more in the third inning with Jackson driving in Huck, who had doubled, and Hunter driving in Jackson. VFW closed the gap with two runs in the fourth inning, with Desmond hitting a triple to drive in a run, followed by a single by Nadeau.
In the exciting sixth inning, VFW, trailing 6-4, scored four runs to take an 8-6 lead to try to tie the series at one game. Desmond’s two-run double and a clutch RBI single by Corey Guerette were the key blows.
In the bottom of the inning, singles by Hunter, Ouellette and Cyr, followed by two walks set up Jackson’s game-winning heroics.
For Sleepers, Huck finished with three hits, Jackson and Hunter both had three singles and Cyr and Ouellette had two singles each. On the mound, McDuffie nearly went the distance, pitching 5-1/3 innings. Curtis pitched the final 2/3 of an inning and earned the victory.
For VFW, Desmond finished with four hits, including a double and a triple, and Morrow had two singles and three RBI. Jake Berkoski, Nadeau, and Guerrette added singles. On the mound, Nadeau went the first four innings, followed by Desmond, who pitched the remainder of the game.
