Coach Graham and Coach Cole will be hosting the annual JB Baseball Awards Night on Wednesday, June 16th at 6:00 in the John Bapst Auditorium.
All players on both teams and parents are invited.
Most parents are bringing pizza and drinks to snack on before the awards are given out.
We hope to see you all there before summer gets into full swing!
There will be a relatively short Booster's meeting also. We'll need to elect new officers for next year. If you are interested in any position (Pres., VP, Sec., or Treasurer) feel free to communicate your intentions via email to Tom Christie or at the meeting on Wednesday.
Congratulations again to the coaches and players on terrific seasons!

The Bucksport Golden Bucks defeated the John Bapst Memorial High School Crusaders, 4-3 in today's Eastern Maine semi-final contest held in Bucksport.
It was a terrific pitcher's duel between Bucksport's Tyler French and JB's Jason McBurnie all day long.
Bapst jumped on top 2-0 in the first inning as Ryan Carr led off with a single, Bill Wetherbee walked, and Chris Hammond doubled both runners home. McBurnie held Bucksport scoreless for the first 2 innings as he struck out 2 and did not allow a hit.
In the bottom of the third inning, 2 singles and 2 errors led to 2 unearned runs for Bucksport and tied the game at 2.
The Bucks put another run on the board in the 4th with 3 hits to take a 3-2 lead. McBurnie pitched out of a major jam with runners at 2nd and 3rd and one out getting a pop out and strikeout to keep Bapst close.
Bapst scored the equalizer in the 5th with 2 out. Ryan Carr doubled and scored on Bill Wetherbee's single.
Unfortunately Bucksport's pitcher Tyler French found his groove and did not allow a hit or run the rest of the way.
With one out in the 8th, Bucksport's Evan Eldridge doubled. After an intentional walk to the hot-hitting McAllian, 3Bman DeRidden(sp?) singled to RF and Eldridge was able to score the walk-off winning run.
JB had 5 hits on the day: Carr had a single and double (and scored 2 runs). Wetherbee walked, singled, and scored. Hammond doubled, had 2 rbi's and walked. Sean O'Donnell singled and stole a base.
Jason McBurnie went the distance against a very good hitting Bucksport team.
He went 7 and a third innings, gave up 8 hits, walked 1 (intentionally), and struck out 5. JB finishes the season with a fine 11-7 record.
We wish all our senior players: Ryan Carr, Matt Storgaard, Bill Wetherbee, Adam Leadbetter, Jason McBurnie, and Nick Christie all the best as they head off to college.
Congratulations on a great season to all the players. It appears we have a great group of players coming back to go with some of our JV players who also had an outstanding season.
Team Dinner/Awards information (Time/Place/etc.) will be announced soon. An email will go out as soon as a date is set.

The #6 seeded John Bapst Crusaders upended the #3 Ellsworth Eagles, 7-6 in a quarterfinal Eastern Maine Class B playoff game on Thursday.
It was not a great start for JB as they spotted Ellsworth 6 runs in the first 2 innings on 4 hits and 2 errors. Chris Hammond came out in the 3rd inning and gave up just two more hits over the final 5 innings to get his 4th win of the season.
Down 6-0 in the top of the third, JB's Jason McBurnie reached on a single. Ryan Carr walked. Bill Wetherbee followed with a double down the LF line to score McBurnie. Hammond grounded out to SS to score Carr. Adam Leadbetter singled in Wetherbee to make the score 6-3. BUT JB WAS NOT DONE. Matt Storgaard singled. Christie reached on a fielder's choice. Then Sean O'Donnell reached on a crucial error by the Ellsworth 3B-man that scored both Leadbetter and Christie (who scored avoiding a tag by the Ellsworth catcher). Bapst was within 1 run at the end of the inning, 6-5.
Ellsworth base hits were hard to come by the rest of the way thanks to some great defense and Hammond's ability to zone in and hit his spots.
After a nice 4-6-3 double play from Wardell-to-Carr-to-Leadbetter and a McBurnie catch on a foul ball right in front of the Eagle dugout,JB momentum kicked in and the determined Crusaders came up in the 4th inning to take the lead for good.
McBurnie hit a bomb to deep center field that the LF caught, tripped, then dropped for a 3-base error. Carr walked. Wetherbee walked. Then the "VZ KID" Adam Leadbetter doubled in both the tying and winning runs with his patented Leadbetter 'slice' to left field.
The rest of the game remained intense as neither team could muster any more offense.
Pitching to contact, Hammond kept the Eagle bats at bay and the defense was stellar.
Matt Storgaard made a nice running catch into the R-CF gap during the 7th inning to squelch any kind of rally by Ellsworth.

Final stats: Carr- 2 walks, 1 run scored. Wetherbee- single, double, walk, 2 runs, rbi. Hammond- rbi and great game pitched! Leadbetter- single, double, 3 rbi (including tying and game-winner) 1 run scored. Storgaard- single, great 'D' in CF. Christie- FC, walk, run scored.
O'Donnell- FC and reached on an error. Andrews- Walk, McBurnie- strong game at 3B including a 'heads-up' run down in 6th inning, scored 2 runs, and reached base twice with a single and 3-base error. (That's why you run them out!)
Lucas Wardell also had a great defensive game at 2B, starting a big double play and ending the game with a nice catch in short RF!
Bapst will now head to Bucksport to take on the rival Bucks on Saturday at 4:00 for a semi-final matchup.
Boys shoud be at school at 12:45 for hitting. Bus leaves for Bucksport at 1:30.
Let's get some fans there to cheer on our Crusaders! Good luck, boys!

JV's Shut Out Hermon 9-0

The John Bapst JV baseball team hosted the Hermon Hawks on Wednesday at Husson
University's Winkin Field, coming away with an impressive 9-0 win, improving
their record to 12-2-1.

Evan Pelkey (3 innings) and Josh Storgaard (4 innings)combined efforts to shut
out the Hawks, throwing just 80 pitches and allowing only 4 hits and just 2 walks and with two strikeouts. The boys' defense played a remarkable
game, recording four 1-2-3 innings. 14 of the game's 21 outs were recorded via
ground balls, with a commendable performance by 2nd baseman Lucas Wardell, who
fielded a ball that pulled the first baseman off the base, beating the Hermon
runner to the bag, followed by a diving stab of a Hermon line drive. In all
Lucas was involved in 7 outs, and the team as a whole had an errorless game.

On the offensive side, Bapst did all of its damage in two innings, scoring 6
runs in the 3rd inning and 3 runs in the 6th. In the 3rd inning, Dan Davis led
off with a single, Kyle Somers walked, Shawn Curran was hit by a pitch. Evan
Pelkey walked, Andrew Catlin reached via an error, Lucas Wardell reached base
via a fielder's choice and recorded an RBI, then Deven Romain drove in a couple
of runs with a 2 out single.

In the 7th, Kurt Massey singled, advanced on an error and scored on a passed
ball. Josh Baker singled, stole a base, advanced on a passed ball and scored on
an RBI single by Shawn Curran, who also stole a base and advanced on yet another
passed ball. Nolan Webber walked, and Josh Storgaard reached on an error that
scored Shawn.

Defensively, this was probably the best game the boys have had all year, and the
pitching contibuted to that effort, with only 6 balls leaving the infield, 2 of
which were fly-outs.

The next game is scheduled for Thursday June 3rd at 4:30 at Winkin Field
(weather permitting).

The John Bapst Crusaders ended their season with a "BANG" on Saturday by sweeping the Caribou Vikings in 2 mercy rule games, 21-3 and 10-0.
Balls were flying out of the park in game one as Chris Hammond had 2 home runs, Bill Wetherbee- 1 round-tripper, and Keith Nelson launched a 'bomb' over the RF fence for a 3 run home run. The game ended in the 5th with Bapst on top, 23-1
Jason McBurnie was the winning pitcher going 3 innings. Nick Christie and Ryan Carr both pitched a scoreless 4th and 5th inning respectively.

In game 2, Matt Storgaard didn't allow a run in his 5-inning stint while giving up just 4 hits and striking out 2 to clinch the sweep.
The ball stayed in the park in game 2 but Bapst added 13 more hits to go with their 10 runs.

Offensively on the day:
Ryan Carr was 2 for 7, scored 3 times, and knocked in a run.
Bill Wetherbee was 5 for 8 with a walk, home run, stolen base, scored 5 times, and had 4 rbis.
Chris Hammond was 4 for 7 with 2 home runs, scored 3 times, and had 6 rbi's.
Matt Storgaard was 3 for 7 with 2 walks, 2 doubles, scored 5 runs, and had 1 rbi.
Adam Leadbetter was 2 for 6 with a double, 2 walks, and an rbi.
Nick Christie was 2 for 6 with a double, a walk,2 rbi's and scored a run.
Max Andrews was 1 for 4 with 2 walks, 3 rbi's, and scored a run.
Sean O'Donnell was 4 for 6 with 6 rbi's, a double, and scored a run.
Jason McBurnie was 1 for 4, scored twice, walked, stole a base, and had 1 rbi.
John McEwen pinch ran and scored.
Brandon Cyr singled and scored.
Lucas Wardell walked and scored.
Josh Storgaard reached base, had an rbi, and scored.
Keith Nelson stroked a 3- run home run.

The boys end the season strong with a very good 10-6 record, and according to tonight's Heal Points move into 5th place. However; there are many teams yet to complete their seasons, and the standings show place #'s 4-10 to be fairly close. If JB finishes #7-10, they'll play a preliminary game on June 8...time and place TBA. If they finish 6th or better, they'll play a quarter final game on June 10th...time and place TBA.
There will be NO varsity practice on Monday, Memorial Day as previously planned. Enjoy the day with your families and study for finals!

JV's wrap up their season, I believe, on Thursday. Players should bring a change of clothes to the last game to change into so that uniforms can be collected.

On a nice day for baseball (once you got through the construction traffic) the JB JV's faced a tough Ellsworth Eagle team. Things started off well with John Bapst scored five runs in the opening frame thanks to RBI singles by Adam Patrick and Daniel Davis but Ellsworth answer with eight of their own. That was apparently a sign of things to come as Ellsworth outslugged John Bapst 16-6. Adam Patrick contributed another RBI in the second inning with a double deep to left field. Jordan Carr drew 3 walks. Starting pitcher Evan Pelkey was relieved in the third by Kurt Massey. John Bapst falls to a very respectable 8-2-1. Next up is our Saturday double header against the Vikings of Caribou. First game is scheduled for a noon start at Husson U. Thank you to everyone who is contributing to our between game meal. Time to start a new winning streak.

Down 5-4 to Ellsworth in the 7th inning,Designated Hitter Max Andrews sent a "seeing-eye-single" between 1B and 2B with the bases loaded to rally the John Bapst Crusaders to a comeback walk-off 6-5 win over the 4th place Ellsworth Eagles on Thursday.
With the win, John Bapst moved from 10th to 7th as they head north on Saturday to Caribou for a season-ending double header.
The game had plenty of drama as 2 of Eastern Maine's finest teams went toe-to-toe.
The Eagles scored in the first inning on a single, stolen base, and triple,but stranded runners at 2nd and 3rd. In the bottom half of the first, Ryan Carr reached on a 2 base error. He scored on a Chris Hammond single to tie the game at 1. The Crusaders left the bases loaded in the first after Leadbetter singled and Christie worked a walk.
The Eagles struck again in the 4th inning with a leadoff walk, stolen base and single to go up 2-1. Bapst sent 9 batters to the plate in the bottom half of the 4th and scored 3 runs to go up 4-2. Ellsworth chipped away with another run in the 5th and then 2 more in the 6th to take a 5-4 lead. Hammond was able to dispose of the 4-5-6 hitters in the top of the 7th and then it was time for some heroics. With one out, Matt Storgaard fought off a couple of nice curve balls and then shot a hard single up the middle. Leadbetter then reached on an error by the shortstop. The Eagles pitcher balked and both runners moved over to 2nd and 3rd with one out. Nick Christie worked a walk to load the bases and then Max Andrews hit the first pitch he saw between 1B and 2B to score the tying and winning runs. Needless to say the nice crowd on Senior Day was ecstatic, and the boys are to be commended for never giving up and battling all day long to claw out the upset win.
Chris Hammond was a "warrior" on the mound. He did a great job keeping his composure with men on base and battled is way out of a couple of tough jams. He pitched a complete game giving up 6 hits and striking out 3.
Adam Leadbetter made 2 outstanding plays at first base; one on an infield throw that he stretched to barely keep contact with the bag, and the other was in the top of the 7th on a liner heading towards the foul line that he leapt and caught to get the crowd onto their feet and fire up his teammates.
Ryan Carr was also instrumental at his shortstop position, making some fine plays to help keep the Eagles at bay.
Offensively for Bapst; Carr reached on an error, scored, and walked. Wetherbee walked in a run. Hammond singled and had an rbi. Matt Storgaard singled and reached on a fielder's choice. Adam Leadbetter singled, walked, reached on an error and scored twice (including the game winning run!). Christie walked twice, reached on an error and scored. Max Andrews had the game-winning single, Sean O'Donnell singled, scored, and had an rbi, and Jason McBurnie joined in the fun with a single, walk, and rbi.
Good luck on Saturday boys! Thanks for making Senior Day one we'll definitely remember!