BANGOR, Maine — For the second straight season, the Southern Aroostook Warriors displayed enough tenacity and skill to advance all the way to the Eastern Class D championship.
But for the second straight season, a familiar foe proved to be just a little bit tougher.
Playing under the lights at Mansfield Stadium for the Eastern Class D championship, the No. 4 Warriors of Dyer Brook were never able to get going offensively. The same could not be said for their opponent as No. 2 Bangor Christian romped to a 17-0 victory in a five-inning game.
Last year, SACS fell to Bangor Christian 8-3 in the regional title game. The Patriots have appeared in the Eastern Class D championship three consecutive years.
The Patriots (19-1 overall) went on to win the state championship for the second straight season with a 4-0 shutout over Buckfield. Bangor Christian did not allow a run in the postseason. SACS ends its season with a respectable 13-4 record.
“They (Bangor Christian) are just an awesome team,” SACS coach David Day said. “They only gave up seven earned runs during the regular season. Their pitching is unbelievable and clearly they can hit and run, so we knew we had our work cut out for us.”
In Thursday night’s game, Bangor Christian juniors Cody Collins and David Peters did an effective job silencing the bats of SACS. Collins tossed the first three innings, allowing no hits and one walk, while striking out seven of the 10 batters he faced. Peters entered in the fourth inning and yielded one hit and one walk, with six strikeouts.
The Warriors sent three people to the pitcher’s mound in an effort to suppress the mighty bats of Bangor Christian. Trent Cullinan, Josh Perrin and Will McGary each took their turn on the rubber. The trio surrendered 18 hits and two walks, with no strikeouts.
Coach Day said he fully expected Bangor Christian to come out swinging and running, and that is precisely what happened. After retiring the side in order, Bangor Christian went to work quickly in the bottom of the first inning, plating four runs on four hits, three stolen bases and a pair of SACS errors.
“When you face a team like (Bangor Christian), you can’t make mistakes,” Day said.
Southern Aroostook had its best scoring chance in the fourth inning when McGary drew a lead-off walk and Parker Walker broke up Bangor Christian’s no-hit bid with a single past second. Walker then promptly stole second, putting runners at second and third with nobody out.
Peters knuckled down after that and struck out the next three batters in order to squash the Warriors’ rally.
With just two seniors on the SACS roster — Mason Caron and Jesse Boulier — coach Day likes his team’s chances to return for another playoff run next season.
“We had a successful season and I couldn’t be more proud of these boys,” Day said. “We had some bumps in the road, but were able to get to regional championship and hopefully we can do it again next year.”
Warriors 000 00 — 0 14
Patriots 458 0x — 17 18
