Schenck holds off Patriots to shine brighter on the diamond
By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer
MILO — After trading leads in the early innings of a May 10 game, the Penquis Valley High School baseball team faced a 9-6 deficit against Schenck High School of East Millinocket.
The Patriots would come close to getting out of the hole, scoring a run and then loading the bases in the home half of the seventh but the Wolverines did just enough to earn the victory.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
SCORE ONE FOR PENQUIS — Junior Trevor Lyford slides into the plate ahead of a throw to Schenck senior catcher Nathan Cram for the first Patriot run during the opening inning of a May 10 game in Milo. The two teams traded several leads, but Schenck ended up winning 9-7. 
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
GLOVEWORK AND TEAMWORK — Junior shortstop Colton Larrabee catches a ball fielded and then tossed over by senior second baseman Zach Eells for the force out of Schenck sophomore Ryan Leavitt in the top of the fourth. Leavitt would pitch all seven innings for the Wolverines, while Penquis senior Tyler Pelletier would hurl a complete game for the Patriots.
With one out in the seventh, Penquis junior Colton Larrabee sent a pitch from Schenck sophomore Ryan Leavitt down the left field line. By the time the Wolverines threw the ball back to the dirt of the infield Larrabee stood safely at second base. Freshman Noah Allen then grounded out, but by putting the ball in play he enabled Larrabee to move to third base.
A walk drawn by senior Brandon Maguire then put a pair of Patriots at the corners, and brought Austin Fogg up to the plate as the potential tying run. Fogg sent the baseball toward third base but Schenck could not get the out to end the game as the throw to first sailed over the reach of Schenck senior Jared Albert. Larrabee scored on the miscue to make the game 9-7, and put Maguire and Fogg both into scoring position.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
HE’S THERE FIRST — Penquis freshman Noah Allen gets back to the bag before a tag can be applied by Schenck senior Jared Albert in the bottom of the fifth. Allen led the inning off with an infield single.
Pinch hitter Chris Johnson then drew a count that reached four balls to load the bases with two outs. Leavitt and the Schenck defense followed by inducing a groundball out from shortstop to first and escape Milo with the victory.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
TAG THE BAG — After fielding a groundball hit by Schenck senior Allen Jones, Penquis senior Brandon Maguire goes to first base himself for the second out of the seventh inning of the May 10 contest.
The Wolverines jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first half inning, but Penquis tied the game with two runs during the team’s first trip to the plate. Junior Cody Cobb drove in classmate Trevor Lyford by dropping a double into right field. Several batters later senior Tyler Pelletier, who tossed all seven innings on the mound for the Patriots, scored on a throwing error to make the game 2-2.
Two more runs in the top of the second gave Schenck a 4-2 advantage, but the lead would be short lived as Penquis put a trio of runs on the scoreboard in the home half of the inning. Senior Zach Eells walked and back-to-back singles by Lyford and Cobb loaded the bases.
A wild pitch rolling to the backstop enabled Eells to slide safely into home plate, and Pelletier then doubled to centerfield to score Lyford and Cobb and give him two of his game-high three RBIs.
Pelletier 
Cobb
Schenck retook the lead, for what would turn out to be for good, with three runs in the fourth. Penquis got one of the runs back in the fourth as Lyford scored on an RBI-single by Pelletier to left field. Pelletier finished the day 3-of-4 at the plate as he and Lyford‘s six hits — three apiece or one more than the most any Wolverine batter picked up — accounted for nearly half of the Patriots’ 13 total.
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for Penquis, which began on May 1 when the team won at East Millinocket 5-4. Schenck improved its record to 2-6.