Page 5 - Newsletter Winter 2018

An infield throwing error resulted in the fifth run crossing the plate.

The Shires kept the offensive momentum going in the fifth against Pepin. A throwing error put Phillips aboard, before Bouchard laced an
opposite-field double to left. Gentle pounded a two-run double to left-center and Perfitt raked a run-scoring single to left-center.
Nick Brewer worked a two-out walk and Callnan ripped a single to left, then the fourth run of the inning scored on a passed ball to make it
9-1 Houlton.
The Shires added an insurance tally in the sixth on another Perfitt RBI single.

“It’s a great group of guys, I couldn’t ask for anything more as a coach,” Castner said. “They work hard, they listen and they’re close.”
It had been 35 years since the Houlton baseball team found itself competing for a state championship. The Shires finished as the Class A
state runner-up in 1976 and 1983.

During their playoff run leading up to the state title game, the 2018 Shiretowners showed a penchant for stingy defense, allowing just three
runs through three playoff games. Houlton, who ended the regular season in first place in the Class C standings, advanced to the state
championship by beating No. 8 Orono 2-0 in the quarterfinals and besting No. 4 George Stevens Academy 4-2 to go along with their 10-1
victory over No. 2 Mattanawcook Academy. Their next step would be their toughest test yet against the Hall-Dale Bulldogs.
“Hall-Dale is a very strong team,” coach Castner said prior to the state game. “They have a couple of excellent pitchers, a very good catcher,
and a deep line up. If we can execute our game plan, and not get swept away in the moment, I do like our chances.”

To be successful against the Bulldogs, Castner said Houlton would need to get back to the basics of baseball.

“We have been focusing on fine tuning our swings and reviewing all the defensive plays,” he said at the time. “We have not had many
chances to go over the small defensive alignments in a while, so it is always good to get the guys moving and communicating.”
The Shires would have every arm at their disposal for the state game. “It is a great luxury to be able to have Nick (Perfitt), Pat (Howe), and
Jason (Collett) available,” the coach said.

The Houlton Shires became State Runners Up following the State Championship game that was held Saturday, June 16th against Hall-Dale
High School of Farmingdale at Mahaney Diamond on the campus of Saint Joseph’s College. The Bulldogs, who were upset during their first
game of the postseason a year earlier, used the collective experience of a veteran roster and the three-hit pitching of senior right-hander Cole
Lockhart to edge Houlton 2-1 for the state title.
Houlton was bidding for it’s first state championship. Their season ended with a 14-4 record. “Obviously, I would have liked to come out
on top, but they played better baseball than us,” said Houlton coach Jim Castner. “We didn’t beat ourselves. They’re a very good team, the
best team we’ve seen and that’s what you expect in a state title game.”
Lockhart required just 77 pitches for his complete-game effort, striking out seven and walking only one – the first batter he faced – in
outdueling Houlton right-hander Nick Perfitt.
Perfitt was just as efficient, striking out five, walking no one and hitting a batter while throwing a 79-pitch five-hitter in six innings. “He’s
got a terrific breaking ball, one of the better ones we’ve seen all season and we were having a hard time timing it up and getting quality
at-bats,” Hall-Dale Coach Bob Sinclair said. “He had a quality fastball, too, he did his job. It just came down to one or two plays that made
the difference.”
Houlton took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as leadoff batter Isia Bouchard walked and scored on Keegan Gentle’s double to the left-
center-field gap.
Hall-Dale tied the game in the bottom of the second. The Bulldogs took the lead an inning later. Logan Dupont reached on an infield hit
and was sacrificed to second by Josh Nadeau. After Austin Stebbins was hit by a pitch, the runners moved to second and third on Jacob
Brown’s groundout to second. Alec Byron then hit a high chopper beyond third base that went for an infield hit that plated Dupont. Byron
then deliberately got caught in a rundown between first and second base, but Houlton first baseman Nick Brewer threw Stebbins out at the
plat to end the inning.

Houlton managed just one baserunner over the final four innings against Lockhart. Perfitt reached on an infield error with one out in the
top of the sixth and was sacrificed to second by Ryder Graham. But, Lockhart got Brewer to ground out to Byron to end Houlton’s best
chance at a comeback.
“It came together really well at the end of the season,” Perfitt said of the Shiretowner’s season, which didn’t include an outdoor practice
until May 7 due to the late Aroostook County winter. “We really started battling teams, and we kept battling today all the way through the
seventh.”

www.houltonalumni.com PAGE 5