STANDISH

Noell Acord and Payton Johnson each bunted the ball a grand total of about 10 feet to begin Saturday’s State Class D high school softball championship at St. Joseph’s College.

Though the distances were small, the results were huge as both Richmond base runners came around to score as the Bobcats downed Penobscot Valley, 3-0, on Saturday.

Acord, who was 2-for-3 and scored two runs, opened the Richmond first by dropping an 0-2 pitch from Howlers pitcher Kayla Dube and scampering to first for a hit. Three pitches later, Johnson followed suit. The pair each stole a base, and Acord scored on a wild pitch. Seconds later, Johnson came home when Dube failed to handle the return throw from her catcher after delivering a pitch.

“To score first against them was what we needed to do, and after that we didn’t hit the ball well against Dube,” said longtime Richmond coach Rick Coughlin. “The last few years, we gave Penobscot their first title (last season’s 4-2 Penobscot Valley victory), the year before Deer- Isle (Stonington) their first. We were not going to lose again.”

“I wasn’t told to bunt, and it was a last-minute decision, and once I got it down, I knew no one was going to throw me out,” said Acord.

“That is how we play,” added Johnson. “We had been hitting the ball hard coming in, but we can play smallball too, and we did that today.”

The early two-run cushion was more than enough for Richmond (17-0) pitcher Jamie Plummer, who struck out a career-high 12 hitters and permitted just five hits.

“She was throwing the ball hard, and her delivery was solid,” said Coughlin of Plummer, who pitched out of trouble in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to keep the Howlers off the board.

“Plummer pitched a great game, but it wasn’t anything that we hadn’t seen before,” said Dube. “We should have hit the ball better against her.”

Early award

Prior to the game, Richmond received the Maine Principals’ Association Western Maine Class D Sportsmanship Award.

The Bobcats rode that early momentum as Plummer threw eight strikes in the first frame, picking up two strikeouts and a groundout.

Plummer continued to roll in the second frame, striking out the side and extending her perfect pitching to seven innings after tossing a five-inning perfect game against Greenville in the Western D final on Thursday.

Brittany Moon’s slow roller with two outs in the third inning was Penobscot Valley’s (18-2) first hit, but Moon was quickly erased when catcher Brianna Snedeker fired to second baseman Kelsea Anair to retire Moon on steal attempt.

On the other side, Dube was rolling. At one point, she struck out five consecutive Bobcats and retired 10 straight, led by the play of catcher Jenna Hope, who made three circus catches behind the plate.

The Howlers made some noise in the fourth. Meghan Howey ripped a single to leftcenter field and an error on a Shaelyn Jones grounder put two runners on with no outs. After a flyball and a grounder moved the runners up a base, Plummer picked up a strikeout to end the frame.

“It seemed like every time they had a rally, Jamie struck a person out,” said Coughlin of his hurler, who did it again in the fifth after Bethany Heald tripled. Plummer struck out the final two hitters in the frame to keep the Howlers off the board.

Richmond loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth as Kalah Patterson walked, and Plummer and Acord each singled. Johnson turned on a Dube offering, but her line drive was caught by shortstop Molly McGinn to end the inning.

“When I lined out, I was concerned that we had left the bases loaded and that they might rally on us,” said Johnson, who singled in the sixth inning after Acord had walked. After a double steal, Acord scored again on a wild pitch for a 3-0 lead.

“They did the same thing last year, and our bats didn’t get it done today,” said Dube, who allowed just four hits, struck out 10 and walked seven. All three runs against her were unearned and Richmond left nine runners on base.

In the seventh, Arianna McKinnon singled with two outs and a Richmond error moments later brought the tying run to the plate. Moon hit a hard grounder to Patterson, who threw to third baseman Ciarra Lancaster for the final out, setting off a Richmond celebration.

“I was just thinking, ‘don’t drop it,’ and when we had that last out, I was just looking for someone to hug,” said Lancaster, who played with a heavy heart after her grandfather Hugh Lancaster died on June 11. “It means everything, with this being our last year. We played for him. Knowing we had a guardian angel watching over us really assured us and allowed us to pull through.”

“We did it when we first got here, and now we’re doing it as we leave,” said Johnson, who remembered winning the state title as a freshman. “Rick has five state titles, and we were able to give him two of them. This is awesome.”

“It is still amazing, no matter how many you have won,” said Coughlin, who finished his 27th season at the helm of Richmond softball in style, but has no plans on stepping down. “I have kids, a new pitcher, coming up next year. I will be here.”

“I am so glad for the girls, to be able to not only win a state title, but to get the Sportsmanship Award is very special and says something about these girls,” added Coughlin. “These seniors are just talented, very competitive and always were there for each other.”

“I couldn’t be any prouder of this team and all of the girls I have played with,” said Acord. “This is great for the community. We are so proud of this.”

Richmond 3,
Pen. Valley 0

State Class D Championship
At St. Joseph’s College in Standish
Penobscot — 000 000 0 — 0-5-2
Richmond — 200 001 X — 3-4-2
Kayla Dube and Jenna Hope; Jamie
Plummer and Brianna Snedeker.
Triple — (PV) Bethany Heald.
Repeat hitters — (PV) Meghan Howey;
(R) Noell Acord.
Records — Richmond 17-0, Penobscot
Valley 18-2.
Notes — This is coach Rick Coughlin’s
fifth state softball title, the second in
four seasons.