Scarborough 1

South Portland 0

Whenever Scarborough and South Portland’s softball teams get together, everyone expects a pitching duel with the game being decided by just one run.

That certainly was the case on Saturday in the Western Maine semifinals, but what was completely unexpected was that the game’s only run came on a hit batter. Scarborough’s Grace Ledoux was hit on the left arm with the bases loaded to knock in Jenn Colpitts to lead the Red Storm to a 1-0 win over the Red Riots.

“I don’t really know what to say, with the bases loaded, Grace did the best she could and it happened to be a pitch that hit her and drove in a run,” said Scarborough’s Heather Carrier.

“That’s one for the books,” said Scarborough head coach Tom Griffin.

With the game scoreless in the third, Colpitts reached on a one out infield single. Carrier attempted to lay down a sacrifice bunt and ended up on base herself. After Kira Gordon popped up to the catcher for the second out, Scarborough’s dangerous hitter, Catie Funk stepped in. She saw nothing to hit all day and worked a four pitch walk. Ladoux stepped in and on a 3-2 pitch, the ball glanced off her left arm and Colpitts trotted home.

“That’s the second time Grace has come through,” Griffin said. “She got the base hit the first time (against South Portland). She is a tough kid. She crowds the plate. She will not back down to anybody. She struggled with the outside pitches and we had her crowd the plate to take away that outside pitch.”

“We just kind of shoot ourselves just a little bit,” said South Portland head coach Jim Hartman. “But I’m really proud of those kids”

Ledoux’s proximity to the plate came in handy as her RBI was the only run her team could get. As it turned out, it was the only run they would need.

Scarborough sophomore Melissa Dellatorre and South Portland’s Julie DiMatteo delivered the expected pitching duel. DiMatteo allowed just two hits while striking out three and walking two. Dellatorre, who has already pitched a pair of perfect games this year, allowed just one hit while striking out 12 and walking three.

“She’s really calm and she doesn’t get worked up about herself,” Carrier said. “When there were people on base, I told her to stay calm and do what she’s always done. And she did well.”

Both pitchers were helped out by their defense. DiMatteo forced 10 ground ball outs and assisted on four of them herself. Dellatorre got out of a bit of a jam in the third when Lauren Tuttle was at second with two outs. Kelsey Flaherty hit a looper toward right field. But Reegan Brackett got there and hauled it in.

“Everyone thought that was in,” Griffin said of Flaherty’s hit. “(Brackett) really deserves a lot of credit. She is a tremendous second baseman that has been overlooked this year.”

For their part, the Red Storm offense did threaten to score a few more times. They got a base runner in the second. They had two more in the fifth and three in the sixth, but the Riots kept them from scoring. Unfortunately for South Portland, they were unable to score themselves.

“We need a little more plate discipline,” Hartman said. “We had three freshmen starting and two sophomores. You could see the nerves. In these games, they are going to be the ones who lose the discipline first. They lost it at the plate, not in the field. They did a marvelous job in the field today.”

Scarborough was scheduled to take on Biddeford in the Regional Final on Tuesday in a battle between the last two teams to win the Class A state title (a game played after the Current’s deadline, see www.keepMEcurrent.com for details on the game).

“We always have a rivalry (with Biddeford),” Carrier said. “We have always battled against each other. I really think we can pull it through. We beat them once and I think we can beat them again.”

Copy the Story Link