BANGOR– With a regional championship in sight, Orono coach Don Joseph turned to his ace. Jackson Coutts fired three hitless innings of relief to lift the Red Riots to a 2-1 victory over Dexter in a Maine Principals’Association class C Northern Maine regional championship game on Wednesday night at Mansfield Stadium.
Coutts stepped on the mound in the fifth inning with the scored tied at one. The first hitter he faced reached on an error. Coutts retired the next nine batters he faced, including five strikeouts.
Coutts also got the offense going when he led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a single. Coutts stole second base and scored the go ahead run on a Nate Desisto single.
Desisto had both RBI for the Red Riots. He also pitched the first four innings. He allowed one run on three hits and four walks, while striking out four.
Orono took a quick lead in the bottom of the first inning when Evan Kenefic started things with a single, went to third on a Coutts double, and scored on a Desisto grounder.
The Tigers had nine base runners in the first three innings, but only managed one run. A key play in the second inning came when Red Riots third baseman Connor Robertson made a diving catch on a bunt, he threw it to third base to double off the runner. Coutts, who was playing shortstop, dove for the throw and tagged out the base runner Zach White.
Dexter got on the scoreboard when Gage Stone led off the bottom of the third inning with a walk and scored on a single from White.
Jacob Bickford pitched six solid innings in a losing effort for the Tigers. Bickford allowed two runs on five hits and three walks, he struck out four. Nathan Richards, White, and Matt Richards had the hits for the Tigers, while Stone reached base three times. Dexter finishes the season with a 12-7 record and runners up in class C North.
Coutts threw nine pitches (all strikes) in the seventh inning, retiring all three batters, including two strikeouts, Coutts (2), Desisto (2), and Kenefic (1) combined for all five hits for the Red Riots. Orono (13-6) will play Lisbon in the class C state game at Mansfield stadium on Saturday afternoon at 2 PM.
