Strong pitching and clutch hitting has put the Caribou varsity baseball team in the Eastern Maine championship game for what is believed to be the first time in the history of the program.
The Vikings were able to win three post-season games in a five-day stretch last week, starting with a 4-3 triumph at home over Foxcroft Academy last Tuesday.
In the quarterfinals Thursday, Caribou was able to muster a 5-1 road win over No. 2 Hermon. Saturday afternoon, at sixth-seeded Winslow, the Vikings needed a late comeback to eliminate the Black Raiders, 3-2, in a game that required an extra inning.
Next up for Caribou will be the Old Town Coyotes in the EM Class B finals, a game slated for 6:30 p.m. tonight at Bangor’s Mansfield Stadium.
The winner will move on to Saturday’s state championship game, also to be played in Bangor.
The seventh-ranked Vikes hosted No. 10 Foxcroft in the playoff opener. Caribou used the offensive heroics of senior Matt Curry to eke out a win.
Curry had a pair of two-out RBI singles in the game. The first one, which came in the third inning, was a line drive double into center field which broke a 1-1 deadlock.
The Ponies battled back to tie the game by scoring twice in the top of the fourth, but with runners on first and second and two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Curry ripped a single into right field that scored Cody Herbert for the winning run.
Sean Sadler pitched effectively over the first six innings, with the lefthanded Curry coming on to pitch a scoreless seventh to gain the win on the mound.
Dustin Bouchard and Dylan Berkoski had two hits each for the winners, with Berkoski providing the Vikes’ other RBI.
Abe Simpson was strapped with the pitching loss for Foxcroft Academy.
On Thursday, Caribou made the trip to Hermon and rode the pitching of Curry to the upset win.
Curry pitched all seven innings and scattered six hits. He again was a hero on the offensive side as he banged out a pair of hits and drove in a run. Bouchard, Matt Milliard and Sadler had two hits each for the Vikings.
Another trip down Interstate 95 was in order for Saturday as the Vikes took on No. 6 Winslow, the defending EM champs.
Caribou trailed 2-1 entering the top of the seventh inning, but scored an unearned run as Curry drove in Bouchard from third on an infield groundout.
Winslow failed to break the tie in its half of the inning, but Herbert ripped a one-out double into left center field to score pinch-runner Dylan Conroy from first for the go-ahead run.
Sadler went all eight innings on the mound and surrendered nine hits and three walks. Mason Huck led the Vikes with three hits.
