Ultimately, it was aggressive baserunning that helped get the Bucksport softball team into Saturday’s Class B state final.

At times during Wednesday afternoon’s 3-1 regional championship win over Winslow, it also hurt the 19-0 Golden Bucks as two of their baserunners were thrown out trying to steal third.

Coach Michael Carrier wasn’t concerned, he said after the game. Trying to make things happen on the basepaths – and in most facets of the game – has been key to the Bucks’ 19-0 season.

In the second inning, courtesy runner Rebecca Hutchins was put out at third on a laser throw from Winslow center fielder Jill Smith. Two innings later Terren Hall, who had reached on an error and advanced on a Katie Hurd single, was caught trying to steal third by pitcher Brynne Davis. That was the third out of the inning.

Hutchins and Hall are two of the fastest players on the team, Carrier said, and Hall in particular has the green light.

“She sees things that if she waited for me to tell her it would be too late,” he said. “Maybe it was at the wrong time, but we’re aggressive and we stay aggressive at all times.”

Hall, meanwhile, felt her two-out, two-run, game-winning double in the sixth inning made up for allowing a leadoff walk and run to the Black Raiders.

Trying to steal third, however, is just the way the Bucks are told to play, even if it means getting caught occasionally.

“You just have to be aggressive and hope for the best when you do things like that,” said Hall, who tossed a two-hitter for the win. “No one ever yells at us for being aggressive and that’s what they tell us all through the games and all season, if you are aggressive it can pay off. I just came up short that time.”

Hall got aggressive on the bases again in the sixth. This time it worked out as she scored the third run on another Hurd single. Carrier had his hands up for Hall to stop at third but as she started to slow down Carrier saw that the hit was misplayed by the center fielder and pulled the sign. Hall picked up her speed and scored easily.

The Bucks’ assertive play also carried over into the defense, which chose to force out a lead runner at second with no outs in the bottom of the seventh rather than getting the runner at first and allowing a runner at third.

Bucksport didn’t commit an error in either the 3-0 quarterfinal win over Medomak of Waldoboro or the EM final and had two in a 4-1 semifinal win over Ellsworth.

“We’re just getting more and more confident and very solid at what we’re doing,” Carrier said.

Of course, confidence has helped the Golden Bucks this year, too. Senior second baseman Brittni Adams said that was what got the team past the Black Raiders Wednesday, as opposed to last year’s 4-1, 11-inning loss to Winslow in the EM final.

“We had so much confidence going in that I think that was the key,” she said. “Last year we were really good but we didn’t have the confidence. That’s what kept us in this game.”

Allen hoping to come back

Junior center fielder Katie Allen said Wednesday she wants to be in the starting lineup for Saturday’s Class B state final after being involved in a car crash Tuesday in Orland.

“I hope to be back,” she said. “I’m gonna try to suck it up.”

Coach Michael Carrier said Thursday he was unsure if Allen would play Saturday, although she’ll likely practice today.

Allen’s injuries could have been worse considering the vehicle she was driving was rear-ended by an 18-wheeler on her way to practice at Bucksport High School, but she needed seven staples to stitch up the back of her head and she also suffered a neck sprain.

“Somebody slammed on their brakes in front of me, so I had to slam on my brakes, then an 18-wheeler crashed into me,” she said after Wednesday’s Eastern Maine Class B title game.

Allen was wearing her seatbelt, according to Bucksport athletic director Brendan Harvey. So was her passenger, Bucksport baseball second baseman Teddy Cooke, who had a grade 3 concussion.

Carrier said there were a few minutes Tuesday that the team wasn’t sure if Allen had even survived the crash with the big truck.

“It was tough hearing about it last night because we didn’t know until about 15 minutes into practice [that she was OK],” he said. “We didn’t know.”

Allen had X-rays and a CAT scan, and doctors didn’t find anything wrong, she said.

Allen got to Wednesday’s game at Coffin Field just in time for the introductions. She was wearing her Bucksport jersey with sweatpants – and a thick brace around her neck.

“I didn’t think I was going to make it because I was quite sick from the medications,” she said.

Kayla Allen (no relation) filled in for Katie Allen in center field.

Pratt: Move meets to UMaine

The outdoor track and field meets have finally been completed after several postponements due to weather.

Bruce Pratt, the John Bapst coach who guided the Crusaders of Bangor to their fifth straight Class C girls state title, said it may be time to look into moving all three meets in Classes A, B and C back to the University of Maine, where they were all held on the same days in 2001 and 2002.

The consecutive postponements make for a good argument for a return to the University of Maine, Pratt added.

Pratt said holding meets in Orono ensures an artificial turf infield and the possibility of holding events like the pole vault inside the UMaine fieldhouse.

“Foxcroft is a fabulous site. I’d kill to have that in my backyard,” Pratt said. “But we’ve got to look at the university sites where you can do things indoors.”