It was Senior Day – the last home game of the regular season – but the South Portland softball team made sure it would have at least one more home game come the postseason.

The Red Riots, ranked fourth in the most recent Western A Heal Points, used a dominant performance from pitcher Julie DiMatteo in the regular-season finale on Monday at Wainwright Field to knock off Biddeford, which was tied with Scarborough for the top spot. The win guarantees South Portland a top-four position in the final Heal Points (scheduled for release on June 5) and a home quarterfinal game.

DiMatteo struck out 11 and allowed only two hits for South Portland (13-3). She was perfect through five innings before Keila Grigware’s liner down the first base line gave the Tigers (14-2) a baserunner.

DiMatteo admitted she was thinking about the perfect game as the innings went on. But once she allowed Grigware’s hit, she settled right back into her groove. She allowed only one walk, coming with two outs in the sixth. After Erin Grover led off the seventh with a single for Biddeford, DiMatteo ended the game with three straight strikeouts.

“Today, my drop ball was working really well and that’s what got most of the girls to swing,” DiMatteo said,

DiMatteo, Kelsey Flaherty and Kayla Ferrara – the only seniors on the South Portland roster – were honored with their parents before the game.

“A lot of my family and close friends came to watch the game,” DiMatteo said. “I just wanted to show them what I can do and what everybody else can do.”

Biddeford pitcher Savannah Brownell didn’t allow a runner until the third when the Red Riots got a couple big hits from the bottom of the order. Lauren Tuttle, the No. 8 hitter, singled with one out. Melissa Thomes, in the No. 9 spot, followed with a bunt single. Flaherty singled to left field and the ball got under the glove of the Biddeford outfielder, allowing Tuttle and Thomes to score, making it 2-0.

DiMatteo led off the bottom of the fourth with a single to right field and advanced to second on an error. Pinch runner Danielle DiBiase stole third and scored on an errant throw.

South Portland made it 4-0 in the fifth when Alexis Bogdanovich tripled to score Thomes, who reached on a single.

South Portland finished with seven hits and did not commit an error.

“We got outplayed by a better team today,” said Biddeford coach Leon Paquin. “They out-hit us, they out-pitched us and they out-defended us. We’re human. The kids out there did the best they could, but they were sharper than we were. When we made a mistake, they capitalized.”

Three regular infield starters were absent from the Biddeford lineup. Paquin said it was “a team decision. We went with three other players.”

Brownell struck out seven in six innings for the Tigers.

South Portland coach Jim Hartman said the win should give his players a lift going into the playoffs, which begin next week.

“It was a big win,” Hartman said. “We needed to have it.”

The Red Riots have lost three games by a total of four runs. Last Friday, South Portland fell 1-0 to undefeated Scarborough when the Red Storm scored the game’s lone run in the bottom of the seventh.

DiMatteo said the team is confident that it can play with anyone come playoff time.

“We have just as good a chance as anyone else,” she said. “We’ve lost three really close games.”

Last season, South Portland fell in the Western Maine final to eventual state champion Scarborough, While the Red Riots are young with four freshmen and two sophomores generally in the lineup, Hartman said they will go as far as the seniors can take them.

“We’ve got, I think, the best three seniors playing,” Hartman said. “They’ve got to step up and come to play. If they do that, we’ll be alright.”

Paquin said execution of the fundamentals will be crucial to moving on in the playoffs, as the top teams all have excellent pitching.

“You definitely need to play airtight defense, field the bunts and make the plays,” Paquin said. “When you get a chance to score, you’ve got to move people over, and you’ve got to come through with the clutch hit.”

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