Area roundup: Hunter Gibson’s walk-off dinger pushes Poland past Mt. Blue

POLAND — A walk-off home run by Hunter Gibson boosted Poland to a 9-8 baseball win over Mt. Blue on Friday.

With the Knights (3-2) trailing 8-7 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Gibson hit a two-run home run — his third hit of the game — to win the game. Drew Sayler, Grady Hart and Sam Paladino contributed two hits apiece for the Knights.

Poland had amassed a 5-0 lead after four innings before a grand slam by Hayden Dippner brought the Cougars (2-1) back into the game. Mt. Blue took an 8-7 lead in the top of the seventh with a pair of runs. Nolan Leso notched two doubles for the Cougars.

MT. ABRAM 7, OAK HILL 6: Trevor Phelps hit a home run and pitched five solid inning to earn the win for the Roadrunners (2-0) against the Raiders (0-2) in Wales.

Phelps struck out five and allowed three hits and five runs. He also drove in three runs for Mt. Abram’s offense, which grabbed the lead with three runs in the top of the first inning.

The Roadrunners extended their lead to 7-1 with two-run fourth and fifth innings. The Raiders got back in the game with four runs in the fifth and another in the sixth, cutting the deficit to 7-6, but that was as close as they got.

Ian Morissette doubled and drove in two runs for Oak Hill. Starting pitcher Ethan Vattaso struck out six batters in six innings.

Adam Luce, who pitched the final two innings for Mt. Abram and earned the save, drove in two runs, and Bear Rollins scored twice.

SACOPEE VALLEY 6, ST. DOMINIC 3: The Hawks (5-0) took the lead on a two-run double by Austin Croteau in the first inning, then added three more in the fourth on RBI hits from Carson Black and Caleb Vacchiano as they beat the Saints (0-3) in Hiram.

Croteau and Vacchiano finished with two hits apiece. Sacopee pitcher Grady Cummings allowed only one hit and struck out 10.

SPRUCE MOUNTAIN 15, MOUNTAIN VALLEY 5: The Phoenix (2-2) used a balanced offensive attack to take down the Falcons (1-3) in Rumford.

Five Spruce Mountain — Max Labonte, Isaac Parker, Eli Moffitt, Nate Holland and Elie Timler — recorded two hits each. The Phoenix grabbed the elad with a seven-run fourth inning. Griffin Achorn, who came in to pitch in the fourth inning, earned the win on the mound.

Mountain Valley’s Jakob LaPointe tallied four hits, including two doubles.

DIRIGO 5, BOOTHBAY 3: The Cougars (2-0) escaped with a home win against the Seahawks (0-2) in Dixfield.

Trent Hutchinson notched a double and a single for Dirigo. He also pitched in relief and earned the victory.

GREELY 10, EDWARD LITTLE 0: Liam Sheff’s bloop RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning ended the game via the mercy rule and Zach Johnston threw a two-hitter as the Rangers (6-0) shut out the Red Eddies (2-2) in Cumberland.

Greely scored two unearned runs in the first inning off Campbell Cassidy, then erupted for six runs in the third, highlighted by a two-run single from Jackson Leding, before ending the game with two runs in the fifth.

Ryan Kolben had a pair of doubles for Greely.

Johnson (3-0) walked three and struck out seven.

SOFTBALL
GREELY 7, EDWARD LITTLE 4: Lily Rawnsley and Maia Wright each drove in two runs in the second inning as the Rangers (2-4) opened a 4-0 lead on their way to a win over the Red Eddies (1-4) in Cumberland.

Wright finished with three hits and also was the winning pitcher.

Edward Little’s Alexis Kelsea and Erin Cowie each had two hits and an RBI.

LAKE REGION 16, GRAY-NEW GLOUCESTER 7: Sadie Tirrell had two hits and four RBI, Kylie Myers added three hits and two RBI and the Lakers (3-2) beat the Patriots (2-3) in six innings in Naples.

Tirrell hit a two-run double during a seven-run fourth inning and added a two-run triple in the sixth when the Lakers scored five more to force the mercy rule. Caydence Riley ended it with a two-run single.

Myers hit an RBI single in the second, walked with the bases loaded in the fourth and singled and scored in the sixth. Winning pitcher Melissa Mayo walked three times, singled twice and scored four runs. Hailey Gove had two hits.

Anna Gilbert had three hits, including a two-run single and an RBI single, and walked and scored a run for the Patriots.

MONMOUTH 16, TELSTAR 2, 5 INNINGS: June Foyt had three RBIs to lead the Mustangs to an MVC win over the Rebels in Bethel.

Maddi Herr had three singles, while Rileigh Chase added two singles for Monmouth (2-0). Isabella Lyons added a double.

Telstar falls to 0-3.

OAK HILL 13, MT. ABRAM 3: Madison Drew’s hot bat paced the Raiders (2-1) in their five-inning win over the Roadrunners (0-2) in Wales.

Drew was 3-for-4 at the plate and drove in two runs. Teammate Kelsey Young drove in two runs and Mia Valliere had two hits. Valliere also pitched and earned the win.

Adrianna Stinchfield pitched for Mt. Abram and struck out seven batters. She also was 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and a triple.

POLAND 20, MT. BLUE 4: The Knights (5-0) overpowered the Cougars (0-2) in Poland.

Poland’s Gretchyn Paradis struck out 10 to earn the win from the circle. At the plate, Paradis hit a double and a single and drove in two runs and was one of five Poland hitters with multiple hits.

Eva Stevens notched a double for Mt. Blue.

RICHMOND 7, RANGELEY 6: Lila Viselli earned the win in the circle for the Bobcats in an East/West win over the Lakers in Richmond.

Richmond improves to 3-2.

Rangeley falls to 1-1.

SPRUCE MOUNTAIN 19, MOUNTAIN VALLEY 6: Big fifth and six innings helped the Phoenix (1-4) secure a road victory over the Falcons (1-3) in Rumford.

Spruce Mountain entered the fifth inning with a 7-3 lead, then added seven runs in the fifth and five in the sixth inning.

Jaydn Pingree struck out seven batters and earned the win from the circle for Spruce Mountain. Pingree also hit a double as part of a four-hit performance. Sam Martin also tallied four hits, while teammate Makinlee Holt notched three.

The Phoenix had 16 hits and 16 walks.

The Falcons, who earned a 13-5 road win over Spruce Mountain last week, finished with six hits.

ST. DOM’S SWEEPS SACOPEE VALLEY: The Saints improved to 5-0 by taking both ends of a doubleheader against the Hawks (1-2) in Hiram.

It took an extra inning for St. Dom’s to earn a 2-1 victory in the opener.

Cami Casserly singled for St. Dom’s in the top of the sixth and then later scored the go-ahead run. Kathleen Dean struck out 10 batters for the Saints from the circle to earn the victory. Emily Andrews helped St. Dom’s with two hits.

The Saints won the second game 12-6, boosted by a five-run third inning.

St. Dom’s 14-hit game included an RBI double by Andrews in the third.

Dean again earned the win from the circle, striking out seven batters.

DIRIGO 15, BUCKFIELD 14: Grace Robbins and Kallie Errington each tripled and drove in three runs for the Cougars in their win over the Bucks in Dixfield.

Robbins, who also had a double and a single, pitched all seven innings and earned the win. Teammate Abby Stevens had two hits and an RBI. Alyvia Perreault, Layla Merrill and Hannah Hammer also drove in a run apiece.

Dirigo took a 14-11 lead after a nine-run bottom of the fourth inning. The Cougars then scored one in the bottom of the seventh after Buckfield had tied the game with three runs in the top half of the inning.

Carmen Crockett had three hits and drove-in four for Buckfield, while Alyssa Litchfield had three hits and an RBI. Addison Stevens-Belanger doubled, singled and drove in a run. Cole Brewster had a triple and a RBI, and Kayden Haylock and Abigail Prokey each contributed two hits and a RBI.

GIRLS LACROSSE
EDWARD LITTLE 12, WESTBROOK 1: Isabelle Hayes scored six goals to lead the Red Eddies to victory in their home opener against the Blue Blazes (0-4) in Auburn.

Megan Lachance added four goals for Edward Little (1-2), while Stella Smith and Caroline Audette each scored once and Korah Cunningham dished out three assists. Goalie Hailee Brown stopped 12 of the 14 shots she faced.

“Great team win for the girls,” Red Eddies coach Shaun McKinnon said. “All of the hard work that is being done in practice is now being shown on the field. I am so proud of how our team battled today in tough conditions to get our first win of the season.”

Morgan Pednault scored a goal for Westbrook.