While reigning state champion Searsport and tradition-laden George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill dominate most conversations about Eastern Maine Class C baseball this spring, a third contender has quietly joined the division’s elite entering the final stretch of the regular season.

Central of Corinth is one of the region’s hottest teams, coming off a stretch of five games in six days with four victories, including a doubleheader split with Searsport and two more victories against other teams (No. 4 Dexter and No. 7 Penobscot Valley of Howland) ranked among the leaders in the latest Heal Point ratings.

“I thought we’d be in the hunt,” said Red Devils’ coach Alan Strout, whose team enters Friday’s game against Stearns of Millinocket with a 9-2 record and ranked third in Eastern C, just behind No. 1 GSA and No. 2 Searsport.

“We played pretty well last year, and we started mostly sophomores and juniors. Now they’re juniors and seniors.”

Central is winning largely thanks to the baseball basics – defense and pitching.

The Red Devils have made just 14 errors in their 11 games, a defensive effort has anchored by senior shortstop Danny Kane and junior second baseman Scott Kelley.

“All the kids have really bought in to playing good defense, and it’s made a difference,” said Strout. “Danny and Scott have turned three or four 6-4-3 or 4-6-3 double plays, and we’ve got a pretty tough field to do that on. They’ve played really well up the middle.”

Senior righthanders Levi Nickerson and Charlie Haney anchor what has become a deep pitching staff. Those two veterans complement each other, with Nickerson a hard thrower and Haney more reliant on changing speeds and pinpoint location.

But such is the Devils’ depth that neither Nickerson nor Haney worked in last Saturday’s split against Searsport, when Central was edged 3-2 in the opener before bouncing back with an 8-5 victory in the second game.

Ben Merrill, Tyler Speed and sophomores Jacob Speed and Josh Collins also have played pivotal pitching roles for the Red Devils.

And batting nearly .500, Collins also is one of the team’s offensive catalysts, primarily as a designated hitter. Kane boasts a high on-base percentage while hitting leadoff for Central, while Kelley, Merrill, junior catcher Brenden Wilson, sophomore outfielder Matt St. Peter, Haney and Nickerson also have been key contributors.

Central faces another tough test against Stearns, ranked sixth in the latest Heal Points. In their earlier meeting, the Red Devils lost an early lead but rallied in the seventh inning for one of their more satisfying victories to date.

And it was against the same Stearns team last spring, Strout believes, that these still young Red Devils began to come of age.

“Last season I noticed the change,” he said. “We lost to Stearns twice during the regular season, then we beat them in the playoffs. When they came back this year, they believed they could compete.

The baseball team, like most other varsity squads at Central, will move up to Class B next season. The Red Devils would like nothing better than leave Class C with a deep postseason run.

“Hopefully we can get a bye and a home game because our field is tough for a lot of teams to play on,” said Strout. “We feel we can compete, and once you get to the playoffs, anything can happen.”

Cheverus sails to title

Cheverus High School of Portland cruised to victory last weekend at the Maine High School Sailing Championships hosted by George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill.

Cheverus earned the honor by being the top finishing team from Maine in the ninth running of the Downeast Fleet Racing Championship held at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine.

The Cheverus contingent of Emily Lambert, Amelie Jensen, Katii Gullick and Mae Lortie placed first overall among 24 co-ed teams representing 20 schools from all the New England states.

In addition, Lambert and Jensen, who won the “A” fleet competition, were recognized as the regatta’s outstanding sailors for winning six of their twelve races during the two-day event. Gullick and Lortie took top honors in the “B” fleet competition.

With its state championship, Cheverus became the first recipient of the Maine Schools Sailing Association’s new perpetual trophy that will be awarded to the top Maine finisher each spring.

Other Maine schools represented in the regatta were Mount Desert Island, George Stevens Academy, John Bapst of Bangor, Portland, and Southern Maine (an amalgamated team).

Cheverus finished with 89 points in the overall competition, well ahead of second-place Southern Maine (154) and third place Marblehead, Mass. (184).

The Maine Schools Sailing Association was founded to promote, support and sustain the sport of school sailing in Maine. For more information about this new organization, contact MSSA founder Griff Fenton at gfenton@u98.k12.me.us.

Bucks improved in win

Coach Mike Carrier is hoping Tuesday’s 3-0 win over Hermon will right the Bucksport High Softball team.

The defending Class B state champion Golden Bucks had dropped two of their last three games, both to undefeated Ellsworth, and were ranked eighth in Tuesday’s Eastern Maine Class B Heal point rankings.

The 5-2 and 6-2 losses showed some disturbing statistics for a program known for good hitting and defense.

Bucksport, now 7-3, had recorded a combined four runs and nine hits, scored in just two innings, and committed seven errors in the two losses.

In a 3-2 loss to the Hawks on May 2, Bucksport outhit Hermon 7-3 and had two errors to one for the Hawks.

With some of the Bucks’ top hitters unable to get things going at the plate, Carrier decided to switch the lineup for Tuesday’s rematch against Hermon.

“It was just to shake things up,” Carrier said. “We’ve been struggling. We just wanted to shake things up and see what would happen.”

The Golden Bucks had six hits Tuesday and spread out their runs among three innings.

Carrier moved Alex Sullivan, a sophomore who has been hitting well lately and is now batting above .600, from the No. 7 spot to No. 4. She hit a single, a double and scored a run.

Senior Terren Hall was moved from No. 3 to the leadoff spot and wound up with a double. Senior Katie Hurd, the regular cleanup batter, hadn’t had a hit in five games but responded to her move to No. 5 with two singles and an RBI.

The Bucks also looked much better in the field Tuesday, committing just one error that proved harmless.

“Defensively we focused a lot better today,” Carrier said. “We might have won all three of those [losses] if it wasn’t for the mental errors.”