A County No-No

There's a lot of great pitching performances around the state, seemingly on a daily basis, but it's not often that we get something that hasn't happened since 2010. But that's exactly what happened in Houlton on Wednesday when Amelia Matwyko threw the first 7 inning no-hitter by a County softball pitcher since in 16 years! Matwyko struck out 14 Presque Isle Wildcats in a 2-0 victory. Caribou's Emily Staples was the last to pull that off from the circle.

Elsewhere

Marshwood outlasted Biddeford 1-0 in an 11-inning classic...Spruce's Rylee Turner struck out 19 in winning both halves of a doubleheader...Boothbay's Casey Phelps struck out 10 in a shutout...SoPo's Ben Morin struck out 14 in a 2-hitter...Erskine's Kelsie Dunn struck out 8 in a shutout of Morse...Sarah Orso homered twice and drove in 8 runs in York's blowout of Wells...Anna McCarron had 6 goals in Kennebunk's win over Massabesic...Maranacook's Grady Hreben struck out 14 in a 1-hitter of Winthrop...Robbie Hanscom hit 2 dingers and a triple en route to 6 RBI's in York's rout of Traip...Chloe Maberry’s walk-off single gave Mount Blue a win over Oak Hill...Wyatt Aceto came through with a bases-loaded single in the 8th inning to give Brunswick an upset over Edward Little...Emily Poulin's grand Slam led EL over Brunswick...Casey Monson scored her 100th goal in Cony's win over Mount Blue.

In the latest episode of the podcast, WHOU's Ethan Snow joined me to talk about why WHOU broadcasts from the schools they broadcast from (the answer probably won't surprise you), which teams are the true contenders in baseball and softball this year, and which AD is using the MPA's website to shame an opposing coach who got tossed.

As always, Ethan brought it.

Check it out on YouTube or wherever it is you podcast.

Mike Mandell has a nice feature on Cony's Parker Morin. Morin has been on an epic run in this, his senior season. He led Cony to a state title game in football and was a finalist for the Fitzy award. This winter he was a Mr. Basketball semifinalist as part of a team that lost to eventual champion Gardiner in the B North Regional Final. And baseball is his best sport. Can the Rams grab that elusive Gold Ball next month? They're currently second in B North at 12-2 after a big win over Messalonskee yesterday in which Morin went 3-3 from the plate and picked up the W on mound.

‘He’s an all-time great’: Parker Morin’s remarkable ride at Cony nears an end

The senior is in the home stretch for the Cony baseball team as Act III of a year in which he has dominated and adapted.

Centralmaine.comMike MandellStaff Writer

Old Friend Luke Kornet hasn't had the best playoffs in his first year with the Spurs, but he got a little extra help before Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals from an unlikely source--a couple of San Antonio nuns.

Everything We Know About the Salesian Sisters, the Nuns Cheering for the Spurs

The four nuns who attended Game 4 of the Spurs–Thunder series went viral for blessing Luke Kornet before the game.

Sports IllustratedMadison Williams

Hopefully they can give him a little extra blessing before Game 7.

If you're looking for a summer camp for your kid to work on their ball skills, there's no shortage of them. Nearly every school has summer basketball. And a lot of your kid's favorite basketball stars from the last couple of years are hosting their own camps. For example, Pliable is hosting one with Mr. Basketball Cash McClure and Ryan Martin.

One of my favorite recurring stories is the "well, now that basketball is over, it'd be fun to come back to baseball/softball", but this year's version has a bit of a twist.

Maddie Provost, the reigning Miss Basketball, made a deal with her teammate Ashley Shores before the year that they'd each join the other in their "other" sport--Shores in soccer and Provost in softball, which she hadn't played since middle school.

“I hadn’t played softball in a while, but it wasn’t very hard to pick up,” said Provost, who is borrowing a glove from a teammate for the season. “The only real difference is playing at the high school level. It’s a bit more serious. It’s super fun. I think we’ve got a great group and it’s nice to be outside.”

Shores, by the way, had never played soccer.

Lawrence seniors Maddie Provost, Ashley Shores fulfilling a pact

Provost is playing softball for the first time since middle school after Shores played soccer for the first time in the fall. In between, the duo helped the Bulldogs win the Class B girls basketball title.

Centralmaine.comDave DyerStaff Writer

If you're an athletic trainer, you expect to deal with injuries on a daily basis--a lot of sprained ankles and cramping muscles and bloody noses. You might get a concussion every so often or maybe a kid who's overheating and needs to be cooled down during a September football game. But the changes have to be slim that you'd ever have to deal with a life or death situation and hopefully you never have to use that part of your training, just like you never want to use the masks that fall from the ceiling in an airplane.

But Winslow's Lindsey Perkins came through in the clutch to save the life of umpire Phil Alley when he had a heart attack while working the plate of a softball game.

Winslow athletic trainer saved this umpire’s life

Lindsey Perkins knew exactly what to do when Phil Alley was having a heart attack and needed help.

Centralmaine.comTravis LazarczykColumnist

I'll just leave this here, as I imagine a lot of people reading this can relate.

My friend Alonso who lives in Mexico City sent me this cool video about the World Cup that matters.

If you're looking for a fun 5K to run next month, can I interest you in the Waldoboro Day 5K? Yours truly is the race director and it's a super chill race that is also pretty hard, but in a fun way.

We go to A North baseball, where Oxford Hills and Mt. Ararat are in a 3-way race with Bangor for the top seed ahead of the tourney.

The Heal Points are razor-thin.

Oxford Hills has the slight edge and that expands when you look at the Tourney odds for the very simple reason that they've got one more game to play than Bangor and Mt. Ararat. Bangor has the edge over Mt. Ararat thanks to an easier schedule (they don't have to play Oxford Hills, who they beat earlier this month).

Obviously, the winner today has a big leg up on the 1 seed, but it's not a lock. They'd still need to pick up another win (or get help). Either way, it's shaping up to be a fun playoffs.

The Model's picks for the rest of today's games are after the jump.