BREWER—- The Dexter Tigers seniors came up huge in the biggest moments in a 3-0 win over Central in the Class C Northern Maine regional championship game played Thursday night at Coffin Field.
Avery Herrick fired a complete game four hit shutout, striking out nine. Herrick threw 86 pitches/68 strikes. Herrick didn’t get to a three ball count to any of the 26 hitters she faced.
Kaelyn Parks was matching Herrick early in the game. Both pitchers threw 37 pitches through the first three innings, with Parks throwing 29 strikes and Herrick 28.
In the fourth inning the Red Devils got singles from Izzy Allen and Gabby Poulin but Herrick and the Tigers got out of the jam with no damage. That set up the bottom half of the inning when Peyton Grant and Herrick started things with each getting a single. With one out, Cheyenne Beem sent Grant and Herrick home when she drilled one to the fence in center.
The Tigers added an insurance run in the fifth inning when Jillean Poliquen had a bunt single, stole second base and came home to score on a Grant single.
Herrick took care of the rest, striking out four in the final two innings, including the final two batters of the game. Dexter (15-2) will take a 14 game winning streak into the state title against Hall Dale (16-0) on Saturday afternoon at 12:30 at St. Joseph’s College in Standish. It is the second straight Northern Maine championship for the Tigers. They also won the North in 2019 before losing to Madison in the state title game.
Grant had two hits, one run scored, and one RBI for the Tigers. Herrick, Beem, Hannah Dean, and Poliquen had one hit each. Parks allowed two runs on seven hits for the Red Devils. She didn’t issue a walk and struck out 10. Allen, Poulin, Bayley Casavant, and Brooke Lunt had the hits for Central, who ends their season at 14-4.
