GSA, Stearns advance

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It was a good day for the top seeds in Eastern Maine Class A softball quarterfinal playoff action Thursday.

In Class A, it was a successful day for the Rams as both Bangor and Cony of Augusta notched victories. Bangor upset Messalonskee of Oakland 5-2 and Cony edged Gardiner 2-1. Also, Medomak Valley of Waldoboro beat Skowhegan 2-0. Bangor will take on top seed Brewer and Medomak will host Cony Saturday.

In Class B, No. 3 Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield beat No. 6 Rockland 3-0 and No. 5 Stearns of Millinocket topped No. 4 Mattanawcook of Lincoln 1-0. MCI will travel to No. 2 Bucksport and No. 1 Winslow will host MCI Saturday.

Class C action saw No. 2 George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill blank Piscataquis of Guilford 15-0 and No. 3 Penquis of Milo beat Central of East Corinth 5-4. Top seed Searsport will host Calais and GSA will host Penquis Saturday.

The seeds held in Class D as No. 1 Jonesport-Beals beat Penobscot Valley of Howland 7-1, No. 2 Fort Fairfield got by Machias 8-7, No. 3 Southern Aroostook of Dyer Brook rapped Katahdin of Sherman Station 28-6, and No. 4 Ashland doubled Limestone 10-5.

Saturday’s semifinals will be Ashland at Jonesport-Beals and SAHS at Fort Fairfield.

Class A

Bangor 5, Messalonskee 2

At Okland, Becca Kinney scattered five hits and struck out five and had a three-run homer to pace Bangor.

Kinney’s homer came in the fourth after Angela Pooler and Julie Murray each singled. Murray had two singles and Emily Ayer doubled.

Heather Sprague tripled for Messalonskee.

Bangor (13-4) 000 410 0 – 5 9 2 Messalonskee (12-5) 001 010 0 – 2 5 2

Kinney and Murray; Gagnon and Sprague

Cony 2, Gardiner 1

At Augusta, Libby Lindquist allowed two hits over seven innings, striking out three and walking none help Cony.

Erica Pridham singled and scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the second for Cony.

Stephanie Greenleaf singled twice for the Tigers and pitched two-hit ball through six innings.

Cony (14-3) 110 000 x – 2 2 2 Gardiner (11-6) 000 100 0 – 1 2 3

Lindquist and Fuller; Greenleaf and Spurling

Medomak Valley 2, Skowhegan 0

At Waldoboro, Alice Bishop struck out six and walked two, giving up three hits en route to the shutout victory over Skowhegan.

Renee Ross drove in a run for the Panthers and scored. Portia Kelley hit an RBI double, and Becky Rasmussen had two base hits.

For the Indians, Denise Everett singled and doubled. Pitcher Destiny Demo scattered five hits.

Skowhegan (11-6) 000 000 0 – 0 3 0 Medomak Valley (16-1) 010 001 x – 2 5 2

Demo and Rowbottom; Bishop and Grover

Class B

Stearns 1, Mattanawcook 0

At Lincoln, Sarah Kittrick retired the last batter with runners at second and third to preserve Stearns’ victory.

Kitterick fired a two-hitter with five strikeouts and two walks to outduel MA’s Branielle House, who pitched a one-hitter but was victimized by a couple of errors.

Heather Leet had the only hit for the Minutemen, stroking a leadoff single in the sixth. She took second when the ball was misplayed and scored one out later on a throwing error.

Abbie Pickering doubled and Angie Brawn singled for the Lynx behind House, who walked three.

Stearns (9-6) 000 001 0 – 1 1 2 Mattanawcook (13-4) 000 000 0 – 0 2 4

Kittrick and Marquis; House and Brawn

Class C

Penquis 5, Central 4

At Penquis, Holly Witham drove in the tying run with a double, then Amanda Haskell singled to knock in the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Witham also singled for Penquis. Pitcher Kerri Russell allowed two hits while walking one.

Dawn Wood and Amy Bracy both had hits for the Red Devils. Joy Allen took the loss, giving up three hits with four strikeouts.

Central (8-9) 010 030 0 – 4 2 2 Penquis (13-2) 100 220 x – 5 3 7

Allen and Cookson; Russell and Haskell

George Stevens 15, Piscataquis 0

At Blue Hill, Mandy Wardwell socked a three-run home run, a double and two singles to power George Stevens Academy.

Emily Lewandowski had three hits and two RBIs for the Eagles behind winner Jada Fontaine, who scattered seven hits, striking out five and walking one. Erika Carter provided two hits and two RBIs, Amy Carter two singles and one RBI.

Maris Leavitt and Jen Moore had two hits each for the Pirates.

Piscataquis (9-8) 000 000 0 – 0 7 8 Geo. Stevens (15-2) 032 334 x – 15 15 1

Edgar and Moore; Fontaine and Lewandowski

Class D

J-Beals 7, Penobscot Valley 1

At Jonesport, Kristi Carver pitched a three-hitter and struck out 12 for the victory.

Courtney Bryant paced the winning 10-hit attack with a single and double. Heidi Stanhope, Jan Beal and Leigh Woodward each singled twice.

PVHS (7-9) 000 001 0 – 1 3 3 J-Beals (14-2) 101 230 x – 7 10 2

Neal and Poirier; Carver and S. Beal

Ashland 10, Limestone 5

At Ashland, Jaymie O’Clair’s run-scoring triple highlighted a five-run first inning for the Hornets. Alicia Nason singled home O’Clair with the fifth run.

Ashland scored twice on walks and once on an error in the first.

Limestone closed the gap to 6-5 with three runs in the top of the fourth, but Ashland scored four runs to secure a semifinal berth.

Limestone (9-7) 101 300 0 – 5 6 4 Ashland (12-3) 501 112 x – 10 4 4

Chapman and Beaulieu; Hunter, Nason (5) and O’Clair.

Fort Fairfield 8, Machias 7

At Fort Fairfield, Devin Jewitt led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a home run to give Fort Fairfield the victory.

Fort Fairfield took a three-run lead into the seventh, but Machias took advantage of an error to tie it. Kathy Russell got the win and assisted her own effort with a two-run homer in the sixth inning. Lindsay Nightingale and Kim McCrea each had two singles for the Tigers.

Machias was paced by Michelle Hussey, who hit a solo homer in the fourth inning. Mary McDonald had three singles and Melissa Smith had two singles for the Bulldogs.

Machias (12-5) 000 121 3 – 7 11 1 Fort Fairfield (13-4) 000 052 1 – 8 13 3

McCarthy and Luce; Russell and Doake

So. Aroostook 28, Katahdin 6

At Dyer Brook, Jody Brown pitched five scoreless innings and knocked in five runs with five hits as host Southern Aroostook cruised to victory over Katahdin.

Brown, who rapped two doubles and three singles, struck out seven in her pitching stint. Misty Roy collected a pair of doubles and three singles good for two RBIs as each of Southern Aroostook’s starters recorded at least three hits.

Janet Corneil hit a double and four singles and Janna Walker stroked five singles for the winners.

Jill Kelly had an RBI single for the Cougars.

Katahdin (11-4) 000 004 2 – 6 4 3 SAHS (12-1) 62(14) 312 x – 28 37 3

Craig, Winship (5) and McNally, Kelly (6); Brown, Fox (6), Brewer (7) and Walker