By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
HODGDON — Katahdin senior Matt Birmingham took a no-hitter into the bottom of the seventh inning Thursday afternoon as the Cougars upset top-ranked Hodgdon 8-0 in a Class D quarterfinal.
Hodgdon junior Tyler Sherman broke up the no-hit bid with a one-out single in the Hawks’ final frame.
With the win, No. 9 Katahdin (8-8 overall) advanced to Saturday’s semifinal against No. 4 Southern Aroostook. (See accompanying story). The Warriors (12-3) earned a spot in the semifinals with a 17-7 shellacking of No. 5 Fort Fairfield (12-5) in a five-inning, mercy rule game.
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
IS HE OUT? — Hodgdon relief pitcher Drew Gough slaps a tag on Katahdin’s T.J. Young as he runs to first base. Young was safe, however, as the ball was in Gough’s hand, not the glove.
No. 1 Hodgdon ends its season with a 12-5 overall record.
The two teams split on the regular season with the Hawks victorious 8-7 at Stacyville and Katahdin winning 9-3 at Hodgdon.
Birmingham walked six and struck out 12 in the contest, showing great command of his pitches. He kept the potent Hawk bats silent for much of the game with a steady dose of curveballs and fastballs. A stiff wind blowing in aided Birmingham’s cause as it prevented a number of deep fly balls from Hodgdon leaving the park, resulting in routine outs.
“I felt pretty good on the mound in Hodgdon,” Birmingham said. “I pitched well the first time I was there as well. It was a team effort though, I don’t think we had any errors all game. We didn’t feel at all like the ‘underdog.’ We already beat them once this year and lost the first game by one run due to mental errors.”
Birmingham said he knew he had a no-hitter going but didn’t speak of it.
“My assistant coach told my coach that I had a no hitter going into the seventh and then I gave up a hit,” he said. “He apologized for it after the game, but I was just happy to pick up the win.”
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
BRINGING HEAT — Katahdin hurler Matt Birmingham fires a pitch to the plate during last Thursday’s quarterfinal game with Hodgdon. Birmingham tossed a one-hitter as Katahdin blanked the Hawks 8-0.
Nick Lunn tossed four innings for the Hawks, scattering four hits and one walk, with nine strikeouts. Drew Gough threw three relief innings, yielding three hits and three walks with one strikeout. Lunn pitched the first three innings before giving way to Gough for the next three. Lunn returned for the top of the seventh inning, in a classy move by coach Rob Smith to give the senior hurler a chance to close out his high school career on the mound.
Shay Lane and Travis Gallagher each had two singles and scored a run for the Cougars, while Tyson Porter added a double and Birmingham and Billy Livezey each had one single.
After a week off, the Hawks were well rested, but also may have had a bit of rust. Coming into the game, both Katahdin coach Marty McCarthy and Hodgdon coach Smith stressed the importance of fielding as the key to whether their teams won or lost. That line of thinking proved to be prophetic as Hodgdon committed five fielding miscues to none for the Cougars.
“We need to make the routine plays,” McCarthy said.
“The biggest thing we have to be concerned with is our pitching,” Smith said. “All year long we have worked three-three-one (3 innings, 3 innings, 1 inning) with our pitchers. If we don’t hit the ball, we’ll struggle.”
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
CLOSE PLAY — Katahdin third baseman Tyson Porter appears to put the tag on Hodgdon’s Josh Hudson in the first inning of last Thursday’s quarterfinal. Hudson was ruled safe on the play, but it was the Cougars who were victorious.
That scenario is exactly what played out as the Hawks committed a number of flyouts. Hodgdon also stranded base runners in every inning, except the third, and left a total nine runners on the bases.
After both squads left a runner on third base in the first inning, Katahdin broke the scoring ice in the top of the second as Spencer Anderson walked and scored on Porter’s double to left field. Hodgdon left fielder Anthony Mazzarco nearly made a spectacular diving catch only on the ball, only to fall just inches short.
The Cougars broke open the game in the top of the fourth with a four-run rally, highlighted by back-to-back singles by Lane and Birmingham.
Warriors tame Tigers
At Dyer Brook Thursday, SACS had no trouble with visiting Fort Fairfield thanks to an 11-run second inning rally. Austin White, Josh Perrin and Will McGary each had a pair of singles, while Cory Rockwell blasted a two-run home run. McGary finished with three RBIs on the day. Trent Cullinan added a single and two RBIs.
Andrew Tuck doubled and tripled for with 2 RBIs for Fort Fairfield. Austin Bernier also tripled and Tyler Churchill had three singles.
Cougars overtake Shead
The Katahdin Cougars picked up a 4-1 win over Shead in Eastport last Tuesday during their preliminary game.
Spencer Anderson gave up six hits, while allowing one run. Travis Gallagher doubled and singled for two RBIs.
Shires end season
The Houlton Shiretowners finished a “decent year” according to first-year coach Jim Castner.
The Shiretowners traveled to Searsport last Tuesday for their preliminary game and came up short, 3-0.
Kaleb Cook of Searsport threw a complete-game three-hit shutout.
Reaching Cook for hits were Kole Buzzeo, Billy Phillips and Isaiah Straubel.
Searsport led 1-0 to open the game and added another run in the second and their last run in the fifth.
Castner noted that Houlton pitcher Ryan Dee threw a great game, “but we did not get any timely hits.”
The No. 9 Shiretowners finish at 6-9.
“We had many unlucky breaks and close games that easily could have turned our 6-9 record to 9-6,” said Castner.
“It’s always a little disappointing to have your season end in a loss, but I am, and I know the guys are, holding heads up after this because we did improve.”
The Shiretoners hit a five-game skid after their season opener, but Castner noted, “We were resilient.”
The Shiretowners graduate Jimmy Fitzpatrick, Dan Swallow and Straubel.
“I will still have the core of my team,” said Castner. “Another year working with them, we can get much better.”
