Injuries prevented Messalonskee High School senior Jonathan Wilkie from taking the field most of this season. While he couldn’t play, Wilkie was still a key member of the Eagles, and when the team celebrated Senior Day when it hosted Cony on Monday, Wilkie was given the honor of throwing out the first pitch.

A strong hitter in his high school baseball career, Wilkie helped his teammates by offering suggestions when they had trouble at the plate. Messalonskee coach Ray Bernier said Wilkie is a quiet leader, comparing his demeanor to that of Sam Dexter, a Messalonskee graduate who recently completed a stellar college baseball career at the University of Southern Maine.

“There’s times I won’t even talk to a player that’s struggling. They’ll come in and Jonathan will pick them up, just kind of talk to them,” Bernier said. “He’s kind of like a third coach in there, and I’m happy to have him still around.”

Wednesday’s 6-0 loss to Bangor dropped the Eagles’ record to 8-7. Messalonskee ends the regular season at Cony on Tuesday and is ranked eighth in the Class A North Heal Point standings. A win at Cony means the Eagles will host a preliminary round playoff game.

It’s a been a feast or famine season for Messalonskee. With strong pitching and defense, the Eagles have won two shutouts and allowed just one run five times. Offense has been a struggle at times, however. Bangor’s Trevor Delaite threw a one-hitter against Messalonskee while facing the minimum 21 batters, and Oxford Hills lefty Blake Slicer threw a perfect game in a 1-0 win over the Eagles. Wednesday’s loss at Bangor was the fifth time Messalonskee has been shut out this season.

“Our team, we struggled in that middle part of the year. We talked about trying to do what Messalonskee does and play our best baseball at the end of the year. I think with our pitching staff and defense, we’ve given up three runs or less in four of our last five games,” Bernier said after Monday’s win. “If we can keep doing that and start picking up our bats a little bit, we’ll be in good shape.”

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After a five-game losing streak, Nokomis has reeled off three wins in a row. The Warriors are now 7-7, with games remaining against Winslow and Mount View. Right now, coach Jared Foster expects Nokomis will be on the road for a Class B North preliminary round game.

“We’ll be the 10 or 11 seed unless we can beat Winslow,” Foster said.

The Warriors have pounded the ball recently. The team had 14 hits in a 14-0 win over Medomak Valley last week, and 17 hits in Wednesday’s 14-5 win over Maine Central Institute.

“I think we’re playing well. We’re coming around at the right time,” Foster said. “We’re making plays. We’re eliminating errors. Now we’ve just got to get in (the playoffs).”

• • •

Waterville started the season with three consecutive losses. Since then, the Purple Panthers have won nine of 11 games, and have climbed to seventh place in the Class B North standings. Waterville ends the regular season with a pair of tough games, at Maranacook (9-5) on Friday and home against Oceanside (11-3) on Tuesday.

“We’ve got two big games left,” coach Dennis Martin said.

A key to Waterville’s success after the slow start has been a commitment to details like situational hitting, Martin said. The Panthers have a team batting average of .330, Martin said.

“We’re just getting fundamentally sound, doing little things here and there,” Martin said. “Moving the base runners over, making contact and putting the ball in play.”

• • •

Winslow’s aggressive base running this season hasn’t just meant the Black Raiders are stealing more bases. On Wednesday, Ben Smith went from first base to third on a wild pitch. That hustle turned into a seventh-inning run when Smith scored on Dameron Rodrigue’s single in a 6-3 win at Waterville.

Taking two bases on a wild pitch or passed ball is something the Black Raiders think about, coach Aaron Wolfe said.

“We’ve done that three times this year. We’ve practiced that and talked about that exact situation. Get a good secondary (lead) and if you see the wild pitch right away, you sprint away and listen to the coach,” Wolfe said.

Winslow is 13-1 and in first place in Class B North. The Black Raiders have games remaining with Nokomis (7-7) and Belfast (8-6).

• • •

The East/West Conference baseball all-conference team was released on Thursday. Representing Valley are seniors Cody Laweryson and Collin Miller. According to Valley athletic director Heather Merrill, the honor puts Laweryson and Miller in rare company.

Over their high school careers, both Laweryson and Miller earned all-conference recognition in four sports. Each also has been honored for soccer, golf and basketball.

Valley (10-1) plays Buckfield on Saturday before a big game at Richmond on Tuesday. Richmond (9-4) handed the Cavaliers their only loss, 9-6, on May 4. Valley is currently in second place in Class D South, while Richmond is in third. The winner of Tuesday’s game will likely lock down the No. 2 seed in the upcoming playoffs, behind top-ranked Searsport, the defending Class D state champion.

• • •

Around the state: With just a few games left in the regular season, there are just three undefeated teams in the state: Falmouth (Class A South), Houlton (Class C North) and Monmouth (Class C South). … York’s 6-3 win over Cape Elizabeth on Wednesday may have secured the top seed in Class B South for the Wildcats. York is now six points ahead of second place Cape. The teams split a pair of regular season games. … Falmouth will be the top seed in the Class A South tournament, yet the Yachtsmen have not played any of their possible playoff opponents. Falmouth moved up to Class A last season but still plays in the Western Maine Conference, while all the other playoff contenders in the region compete in the Southwestern Maine Activities Association.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM