SCARBOROUGH – This time the Thornton Academy softball team couldn’t get the essential hit. Instead, Scarborough got an early home run, then capitalized on a late-game scoring situation to earn a 2-0 victory in a Western Class A semifinal Saturday.

The second-seeded Red Storm (17-1) made it 2-0 on a sixth-inning error by the third-ranked Golden Trojans (15-3), then held off a seventh-inning threat to reach the regional final.

Scarborough will face South Portland for the title at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. Joseph’s College in Standish.

“Julia’s tough and she’s always been tough,” Scarborough pitcher Mo Hannan said of Thornton pitcher Julia Geaumont. “Last game we had a big hit that opened it up and we didn’t have that today, but we’re lucky that we had a few runs.”

In the fifth, Thornton had Jordon Agger (error) and Meghan Agger (single) on second and third with no outs before the Red Storm retired the next three batters.

“When they (Scarborough) are in pressure situations, they excel,” Geaumont said. “That’s what a good team needs to do. I think we did a good job of doing that today, but when it came down to it, they performed a little bit better and they excelled a little bit more than us.”

A day after Thornton Academy won its quarterfinal against Biddeford with a walk-off seventh-inning single to score the game’s only run, it struggled on offense. The Trojans managed only three hits and stranded five runners in scoring position,

“We just couldn’t get the big hits, the hits that count and pull us through,” said Geaumont, who finished with three strikeouts and went 1 for 3. “We kept competing every inning; that’s all you can ask.”

Alyssa Williamson’s home run over the right-field fence in the second gave the Red Storm a 1-0 lead. With the bases loaded in the sixth, a grounder by Grace Farnkoff bounced off Geaumont and allowed Erin Giles to score from third.

“I didn’t get it right,” Geaumont said. “She hustled it out and I didn’t get it right.”

After Scarborough scored in the sixth, the Trojans put runners on first and second with one out in the seventh. Hannan struck out Jordon Agger, then Chrissy Remmes popped to shortstop Marisa O’Toole, ending the game.

“They put the ball in play,” said Hannan, who finished with 10 strikeouts. “We had an extra run that last inning so we knew that if you had to get the out and they’re running home, get the out. It didn’t come to that, but it was just nerve-wracking.” 

Staff Writer Rachel Lenzi can be reached at 791-6415 or at:

rlenzi@pressherald.com

Twitter: rlenzi