SALEM – Traip Academy found out Tuesday just how hard it is to hit against Aaron McGinness of Mt. Abram when his two-seam fastball is working.

McGinness struck out 12 and didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning as the seventh-seeded Roadrunners beat the 10th-ranked Rangers 8-4 in a Western Class C prelim.

Mt. Abram (10-5) will play at second-seeded St. Dominic in the quarterfinals Thursday.

“This is the best I’ve seen Aaron throw all year,” Mt. Abram Coach Ryan Palmer said. “We got some big hits for him and made some nice defensive plays.”

McGinness pitched six innings and tired as the game progressed. He allowed four hits, all in the fifth and sixth. He also walked five and hit two batters.

McGinness struck out the side in the first but also walked two. He came back in the second with three straight strikeouts, using a two-seam fastball that tailed away from right-handed hitters.

“Our team played good defense behind me today,” McGinness said. “They stayed with the ball and made the plays.”

Mt. Abram scored three runs in the bottom of the first thanks to doubles by Tim Smith and Josh Beedy, and a single by Parker Kennedy.

“The first inning was the key to this game,” Palmer said. “We needed to get out of the first inning unscathed and come back and get something. We gained a lot of confidence right away.”

A pair of defensive gems stopped Traip (8-9) in the middle innings. Mt. Abram first baseman Hank Poulin made a diving catch toward the first-base foul line in the fourth. In the fifth, with a run in and the bases loaded, shortstop Jay Chenard snared a line shot to end the inning.

“We had several big defensive plays during the game,” Palmer said.

“We gave Aaron plenty of defensive support.”

Mt. Abram pushed the lead to 8-0 in the fourth, scoring five runs on consecutive singles by Poulin, McGinness and Beedy, who finished with four RBI.

Jeremy Baker broke up McGinness’ bid for a no-hitter with one out in the fifth with a single up the middle. Baker eventually scored when McGinness lost his control. He hit two and walked a third to force in a run.

Tim Smith pitched the seventh for Mt. Abram, allowing two runs.

Baker and Lucas Edwards finished with two singles each, and Jay Cuttle added an RBI triple in the seventh for Traip.

SOFTBALL

SACOPEE VALLEY 5, MADISON 4: Chesley Burnell’s single scored Callie Day from second base in the seventh inning as the eighth-seeded Hawks (9-7) defeated the ninth-ranked Bulldogs (5-11) in a Western Class C prelim at South Hiram.

Burnell had both of Sacopee’s hits.

Madison opened a 2-0 lead with runs in the first and third, but the Hawks scored four in the third. Day scored the first run of the inning on Justine Ruhlin’s sacrifice bunt. Shelly Pellegrino then scored on Whitney Stacey’s sacrifice fly, Burnell on a wild pitch and Ruhlin on a passed ball.

Sacopee Valley will play top-ranked Telstar in the quarterfinals Thursday at Bethel.

 

LISBON 8, WELLS 6: Shauna Riordan had four hits, including a double and a triple, scored twice and drove in a run to lift the ninth-ranked Greyhounds (13-4) over the eighth-seeded Warriors (9-8) in a Western Class B prelim at Wells.

Krystin Ramich added three hits, two runs and one RBI for Lisbon, which broke a 3-3 tie with a three-run fifth inning and extended the lead to five with two runs in the sixth.

SMAA SOFTBALL

SCARBOROUGH 3, SOUTH PORTLAND 0: Melissa Dellatorre struck out 13 and walked one in a four-hitter as the top-ranked Red Storm edged the second-seeded Red Riots in the SMAA championship game at Scarborough.

Dominique Burnham hit an RBI single and Erin Giles added a sacrifice fly during a three-run third for Scarborough.

 

SCARBOROUGH 10, KENNEBUNK 1: Heather Carrier had three hits and drove in two runs to lead the Red Storm (17-1) past the third-seeded Rams (13-4) in the semifinals.

Erin Giles opened the scoring for Scarborough with a two-run double in the first inning.