Back-to-Back Champs

Contributed photograph
The Houlton Elks softball team picked up back-to-back championships, winning the State Elks Tournament on Aug. 13-14. The Houlton team battled their way through the losers’ bracket on Sunday to face the Bangor Elks in the final. The Houlton team’s first loss was to Bangor in the semifinals, so Houlton had to beat Bangor twice to win the title. The first game, Houlton won by 11 runs, and in the second, they won by nine runs to be named champions. A Houlton team had not won the State Elks Tournament since 1980, until winning the last two years. The Houlton Elks will be hosting the “Over 40” Tournament next month at Community Park. Playing for the team are, from left, front, Scott Shaffer, Cliff Urquhart, Tony Marino and Patrick Crawley; back, Mike Brown, Mike Fogarty, Kevin Tuttle, Nick Howe, Derek Nickerson, Galen Nickerson, Shannon Kidney, Trapper Gentle and Del Carmichael.