Calais, Skowhegan claim titles

BREWER, Maine — Calais High School sophomore Shannon Brown made the most of her opportunity Wednesday night.

Brown was pegged by coach Greg Smith to play third base, since his starting third baseman, Toni Cole, had to miss the Eastern Maine Class C softball championship game against Sumner of East Sullivan for a relative’s wedding.

Turns out Brown got it done with the bat and the glove, going 2-for-4 with three runs batted in while handling four balls — all cleanly — at third as the top-ranked Blue Devils punched their ticket to championship Saturday with a 10-1 victory over the third-seeded Tigers at Coffin Field.

Calais (17-0) takes on Western Maine champ Telstar of Bethel in Brewer at noon Saturday while Sumner finishes 16-3.

Telstar ousted two-time defending state champion Georges Valley in Tuesday’s regional final.

Brown and the rest of the Devils’ infield played flawless softball behind senior righthander Tessa Clark, who wasn’t overpowering but located the ball well.

“I don’t strike too many people out, but my infield is awesome,” said Clark, who allowed only one unearned run on six hits while striking out three and walking nobody.

“I love my infield. I just get [batters] to ground or fly out, that’s my goal,” Clark added.

Calais jumped on the board first with a pair of runs in the second, with Whitney Remington reaching on an error and scoring on Lara Marshall’s single. Marshall went to second on the throw to the plate and scored on an Alex McVicar double.

That uprising was only the beginning of a 10-run, nine-hit Calais attack.

“These kids can hit, they’re seeing the ball better here at the end of the season, and hitting the ball better and they’re going up there with confidence and that’s what you need,” said Smith.

Sumner got a run back in the top of the fifth, but the Tigers could’ve produced more.

Sarah Leighton stroked a one-out single to center, and Morgan Whitten followed with a single to center, which rolled under the glove of Calais’ Macey Gillespie and scooted to the wall, allowing Leighton to score and Whitten to go to third.

However, the Devils thought Whitten didn’t touch second base, alertly threw to second, and Whitten was called out for the second out.

Clark got the next batter to ground out.

“I didn’t really see the play myself but everybody in [the dugout] told me she hit the back side of the bag,” said Sumner coach Elwood “Bimbo” Pinkham. “She’s supposed to hit the front side like most players. I don’t know, we’ve got to go by what the umpire says. That’s one of those plays, nothing you can do about it.”

Calais then scored eight times in the next two innings to break the game open.

“I think if that runner were to score, who knows what would’ve happen but we kept our heads up,” said Clark.

And the bats going. The first five Devils reached base in the fifth, with Nicole Osborne driving in a run with a single and Brown dumping a bloop two-run single into shallow left.

“Shannon stepped in and did a great job,” said Osborne. “She’s a great person, she’s a great player too.”

Brown contributed an RBI double during a four-run uprising in the sixth while Osborne drove in two more with a single in that same inning. Remington singled in another run for a Calais team that was fired up before the bus even hit Route 9.

“They came down on the bus cheering, smiling, singing, keeping me entertained, and they just seemed loose,” said Smith, whose club contacted Cole via cell phone after the game to share the good news.

Osborne, along with Brown, was the Devils’ offensive leader, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Clark also had a multiple-hit game with two singles.

Leighton singled twice and scored for Sumner.

rmclaughlin@bangordailynews.net

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