STANDISH — Winning pitcher Alyssa Wade tripled in the tying run, then scored the winner as fourth-ranked Dirigo High of Dixfield rallied past No. 7 Sacopee Valley 2-1 in the Western Class C softball championship game Tuesday night at St. Joseph’s College.

Dirigo (13-6) will play Bucksport (19-0) in the Class C state championship game at 11 a.m. Saturday here.

It will be the Cougars’ first appearance in the championship game.

Sacopee Valley of South Hiram finished 8-11, its tournament run halted after two previous upsets.

The Hawks took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a two-out single by Michelle Pellegrino, scoring Chelsey Burnell.

Sacopee Valley threatened in the third, fourth and fifth innings, each time stranding two runners.

Then, in the bottom of the fifth, Dirigo took the lead.

Gretchen Bradbury led off with a single and scored on a two-out triple to left-center by Wade. Natalie Bolduc followed with a single, knocking Wade in with the go-ahead run.

Sacopee Valley got two runners on in the seventh, on a leadoff single by Miranda Schaubut and a two-out walk. But Wade induced a game-ending groundout.

 

CONY 1, BREWER 0: Sonja Morse struck out the final hitter – her eighth of the game – with the tying run on second base as top-ranked Cony (19-0) won the Eastern Class A title by beating seventh-seeded Brewer (12-7) at Augusta.

Cony will return to the Class A state title game for the first time since 2006. The Rams, who were playing in their fifth Eastern Class A final in eight years, will face South Portland (17-2) at 3 p.m. Saturday at St. Joseph’s College in Standish.

Molly Russell hit an RBI double with two outs in the fourth inning. The inning started when her sister, Maggie Russell, drew a one-out walk, then was thrown out trying to take third on a bloop single to right by Alyssa Brochu.

Brewer right fielder Deavan Smith made a terrific play to field the ball and threw a strike to third baseman Cassie Harvey, who applied the tag.

With Brochu on first, Molly Russell ripped a fastball from Alexa Grindle to straight-away center to give the Rams the 1-0 lead.

“I knew it was a good hit when I got it,” said Russell, who went 3 for 3. “I was ready to play.”

BASEBALL

MESSALONSKEE 13, LEWISTON 2: After losing at Brewer on May 12, the Messalonskee High baseball team held a meeting. The Eagles were 5-5 and felt they were underachieving.

“We were 5-5 and we had a really good team discussion to kind of let things vent out,” Coach Ray Bernier said. “Right from then, we went on the win streak. After that fifth loss they woke up and realized, ‘Hey, we’re better than this.’ “

Now the fourth-seeded Eagles (14-5) are the Eastern Class A champs, beating second-ranked Lewiston (15-4) at Augusta.

Lewiston beat Messalonskee 9-2 on April 20.

“We overwhelmed them the first time we played them, and they came back and overwhelmed us today,” Lewiston Coach Todd Cifelli said.