By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
The weather has not been cooperative in the last couple of weeks, pushing games back. But, the Maine Principals’ Association has extended the season by two games, with the regular season being completed on Friday, May 31.
The Houlton varsity girls are just outside of the cutoff for the playoffs, as the top 11 teams qualify. The Lady Shires with a 1-10 record trail the 11th placed Madawaska Owls, which have accumulated 16.6706 tournament points to Houlton’s 9.0476.
Pioneer Times photograph/Gloria Austin
FIRES — Alicia Rockwell, Hodgdon’s shortstop, fires the ball to first base.
In Class D, the Katahdin girls are in fourth with a record of 10-2, following top-seeded Limestone/MSSM (13-0); PVHS (14-0) and CAHS (11-3). Seeded fifth through 11th are Fort Fairfield (9-4); Ashland (6-7); Deer Isle-Stonington (10-3); East Grand (6-6); Washburn (6-6); Schenck (4-11); Machias (5-6) and Woodland (6-9).
However, Southern Aroostook is in 13th and Hodgdon in 14th, both just outside of qualifying. Woodland has collected 13.1060 tourney points, while Southern Aroostook has 9.8852 and Hodgdon has earned 8.9881.
Last Thursday, the Katahdin girls topped host East Grand, 7-3, behind the strong arm of Ashley Randall, who struck out 10 batters, while scattering three hits.
For East Grand, Kim Stoddard drove in two runs on a single in the sixth.
Last Wednesday, the Houlton girls were overpowered by host Caribou, 16-4. The Vikings used 15 walks and five hit batsmen for the mercy-rule win.
Houlton’s Alaina Stewart singled twice, while Emma Drew collected two base hits and scored a run.
Caribou took a 9-4 lead after four innings and held Houlton scoreless over the next two innings, as they scored three runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth.
In Madawaska, the Southern Aroostook girls suffered a 19-11 loss.
Desirae Dubois doubled twice, singled and knocked in five runs, while Mataya Hartin stroked three singles.
Last Tuesday in Stacyville, the Lady Cougars narrowly escaped Bangor Christian, 7-6.
Courtney Stevens singled twice, while Randall, Makayla Patterson and Molly Cunningham all singled.
Katahdin scored four runs in the first before Bangor Christian came back to within a run in the third, 4-3. In the fifth, Katahdin drove in two more runs, but the Patriots knotted the game at 6-all in the sixth. In the bottom of the seventh, Katahdin took the win, scoring the late run.
In other action last Tuesday, Central Aroostook downed visiting Hodgdon, 18-2, scoring all their runs in the first three innings — including nine-run first and third innings.
Michaela King powered the Panthers with five RBIs on a triple, doubled and two singles. Megan King and Mollie Garrison each singled and doubled, with both driving in four runs.
For Hodgdon, Lacey McQuarrie doubled and Jennah Steamer rapped a run-scoring single.
The rescheduled games have not been reported to the Pioneer Times, so check with the schools for their latest games.
The high school softball season is winding down, as the preliminaries will be played on Tuesday, June 4, followed by the quarterfinals on Thursday, June 6 and semifinals, Saturday, June 8. The games will be hosted by the higher-seeded team.
The Eastern Maine regionals will be played on June 11-12 and the state games on Saturday, June 15.
