BAR HARBOR – Caribou’s 9-10 year-old traveling all-star team finished as runners-up in the 12th annual Marty Lyons Classic Little League Tournament.
The Vikings finished with a 4-2 record, winning three games in a row to advance to the championship on Sunday – a great feat considering eight teams competed in the event held Aug. 7 and 8.
In the first game, Caribou faced off against Old Town. It was a slow start for the Vikings as they managed only two runs over the first four innings. Pitching solidly for Caribou was Kyle Soetart-Beaulier for the first two innings and Noah Frost for one. They combined to give up only four runs. In the top of the fifth inning, Tyler Wright walked, Seth Beidelman singled, Evan Desmond doubled, Soetart-Beaulier drew a base on balls, Noah Frost singled and Camden Huck doubled to cap a four-run inning that gave the Vikings a 6-4 lead. Desmond pitched two scoreless innings to end the game and Caribou snuck out its first victory.
Game two was against a very talented Holbrook team. Camden Huck started the game and pitched well by throwing strikes for three innings, but Holbrook just kept hitting the ball up the middle to score eight times in three innings to jump out to a big lead. The Vikings kept fighting, managing three runs in the third. after singles by Beidelman and Desmond, Soetart-Beaulier doubled them home and Frost doubled in Beaulier. Caribou ended up losing 9-3 and had to turn right around to play another game.
In its third game of the day, the Vikings faced their first elimination game against Acadia 2. Acadia came out swinging and scored three runs in the first, but the Vikings also came ready to play and ready to hit as they scored 14 runs in its half of the inning, capped by a three-run home run by Frost. The shot cleared the fence by approximately 30 feet. Also contributing during the rally were Matt Nadeau with a double and Beidelman and Desmond with multiple hits. Caribou went on to win in four innings, 19-9. Sebastian Marquis contributed with two doubles, Tyler Wright also pitched one inning and had two doubles. Gabe Rand had an RBI single and Caleb Brown walked twice and scored a run.
Sunday morning brought Acadia 1 as the matchup. Camden Huck took the mound again looking to lead his team to victory. He threw 2-1/3 very solid innings – striking out four and only giving up three runs before running into a jam in the third. Desmond came in relief of Huck and pitched 2-2/3 innings, giving up one run while striking out three.
Caribou’s bats came alive and scored 13 runs over five innings. Collecting his first hit in the tourney was Noah Hixon. Players with multiple hits were Beaulier, Desmond, Frost, and Huck as Caribou won, 13-3.
Getting a well deserved two-hour break between games, the Vikings met the Holbrook team to decide the winner of the loser’s bracket. Holbrook jumped out quick in this game again, getting 10 runs in the first two innings and leading 11-5 after three frames.
Caribou’s bats remained hot, as they mounted a comeback in the fourth and fifth innings by scoring nine runs and taking a 14-12 lead after five. Everyone contributed in this amazing comeback. Five consecutive hits in the fourth, capped by a three-run double by Huck, led to four runs, while the fifth inning saw a three-run triple off the bat of Huck.
Multiple hits by Nadeau, Beaulier, Desmond and Frost helped with this comeback, and Beaulier pitched four strong innings in relief to hold the Holbrook team in check.
In the championship game, the Vikings squared off against the undefeated Ellsworth team. The Vikings fought hard, but the long day of baseball and the hot sun got to them in the end. Caribou still managed to score times in three innings, but had no answers for Ellsworth in losing the shortened game, 20-8.
