WINSLOW — After striking out in his previous two at bats, Caribou High School catcher Cody Herbert hit what — up to now — is the biggest base hit of his baseball career.

With one out in the top of the eighth inning, Herbert laced a double to the gap in left-center of Winslow’s Nivison Diamond. The hit scored pinch runner Dylan Conroy with the go ahead run, and the Vikings went on for the come-from-behind 3-2 win over Winslow in the Eastern Class B semifinals.

“We’ve had a couple of experiences like that, but this is definitely the best one,” Herbert said.

No. 7 Caribou, now 13-6, will play either No. 8 Old Town or No. 4 Camden Hills in the regional final on Wednesday night at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor. No. 6 Winslow, the defending regional champ, ends the season 15-4.

Caribou pitcher Sean Sadler led off the top of the eighth inning with a walk. Conroy came on to run, and with one out, Herbert came to the plate to face Winslow’s Jake Trask.

“I was sitting on a curve ball, because I knew he had a pretty good curve ball. He had struck out a couple of our guys on it, so I was just waiting for it,” Herbert said.

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Herbert’s heroics came after the Vikings rallied in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game at 2-2. Mason Huck and Tyler Dombroski hit back-to-back singles to open the seventh inning, the first time all game Caribou put the leadoff runner on base. Winslow coach Jesse LaCasse lifted starter Trevor Lovely for Trask, who got a quick groundout. Dustin Bouchard hit a grounder to third, and Dylan Hapworth’s throw home was a little off the mark, allowing Huck to score the tying run.

“Trevor, even without run support throughout the game he continued to pitch strong. Trask came in and did a good job. Without the run support, it’s tough, especially in playoffs,” LaCasse said.

The Black Raiders took a 1-0 lead in the first when Zach Guptill singled to score Lovely. Winslow pushed its lead to 2-0 in the second inning, when Lovely singled with two outs to score Taylor Roy.

Caribou cut the deficit to 2-1 in the third with an unearned run, when Bouchard scored on a Matt Curry groundout to second base.

While the Black Raiders had a runner reach base every inning, they stranded 15 runners on base, including the tying run in the bottom of the eighth.

Sadler gave up nine hits and three walks while striking out two for Caribou.

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“We had a lot of balls right at them. It wasn’t our best day hitting,” LaCasse said. “You have to give it to their pitcher. He kept us off balance with his curveball all day, changeup, kept the fastball away (from hitters). He did his job.”

Huck had three hits for Caribou. Guptill had two hits for Winslow.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM


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