BIDDEFORD — Thornton Academy entered its regular-season finale on Monday on a 10-game win streak. And no one wanted to end that streak more than the archrival Biddeford Tigers. But like the 10 previous opponents ”“ including the Tigers just eight days before ”“ no one could stop the Trojans, who outhit the host Tigers 16-1 to win 14-0 in an SMAA softball game at Doran Field.
The Trojans (13-3) have been dominant on their now 11-game winning streak, as they entered Monday’s finale by outscoring opponents 131-9 over their past 10 games. The rematch against the Tigers did nothing to hurt that stat.
Thornton got its offense going right off the bat, as lead-off hitter Taylor Lux drew a walk to start the top of the first inning and later scored when Biddeford (10-6) catcher Charlotte White threw off-target trying to prevent Erin Brayden from stealing second.
Another lead-off batter reaching base led to another run in the second, as Brooke Cross walked on four pitches and scored on an RBI single by Maizie Lee.
“Against a team like Thornton ”“ they’ve got a good, solid team ”“ we have to play flawlessly, and we have to have a good start in these games. We weren’t sharp, and it was a team effort, right down from me to every girl on the bench,” said Biddeford head coach Leon Paquin. “We weren’t sharp today, and I’ll take the blame for it.”
The early cushion only aided the efforts of Thornton starting pitcher Bailey Tremblay, who retired the first seven Biddeford batters and took a no-hitter into the fourth. Tremblay allowed just two hits in the game, replicating her performance from the first time the two teams faced each other.
“It definitely relaxes me; it takes a lot of stress off,” Tremblay said of the early run support. “And our defense is playing great, too. It was a big relief.”
The Trojans broke the game open in the top of the third. The first six batters reached, on four singles and two walks, to increase the lead to 5-0. That was the end of the day for Biddeford starting pitcher Kirsten Lebreux, who gave up six hits and four walks in just two-plus innings.
Abbie Paquette came on in relief and struck out Aleisha Cross before giving up a two-run single to Keira Fitzgerald. Paquette then prevented any further damage by getting fielder’s choice and a flyout to end the inning.
Thornton tacked on another run in the fourth on an RBI single by Kaylee Burns, but Paquette stranded two runners in the inning, and then one each in the fifth and sixth innings.
The Trojans batted around in the seventh, as they didn’t let their foot off the gas. The first six batters reached against Paquette, thanks to two singles, a double, two errors and a fielder’s choice that failed to record an out, before she was pulled from the game.
“It’s tough. One through nine can hit. It’s amazing,” Tremblay said of her team’s offense. “Everybody can hit on the team.”
“It was one of those days, no matter what we did it wasn’t going to make a difference because they played an outstanding game,” Paquin said of the Trojans. “When one team plays outstanding, and the other team doesn’t, you get a score like today.”
Freshman Amber Magnant made her season debut on the mound and was greeted by an RBI double by Tremblay before getting two flyouts and a caught stealing to end the inning.
“She didn’t even get a chance to go warm up, and I put her out there. To her credit, she threw strikes,” Paquin said of Magnant. “But to go in there in that situation, probably she was nervous, she threw strikes and she did all right. It was a positive thing out of that game.”
The Tigers put a runner into scoring position for the first time in the game in the bottom of the seventh, as they loaded the bases with one out, but a grounder back to Tremblay nailed a runner at home before Tremblay struck out Bri Collard to end the game.
“Off our win (in the first matchup), we knew that they wanted to beat us. Them coming off the Scarborough game, when they kept it close, they really wanted to beat us,” Tremblay said of the Tigers. “And we just had to play our game, not let anything get to us and stay confident. Confident, not cocky.”
“Thank god it wasn’t a playoff game, because we’d be all done,” said Paquin. “I know we’re better than that, the kids know they’re better than that. It’s just some days, you have those days.
“You’ve got to take your hat off to them. They were on. They did everything right. And we didn’t do much. They beat us, simple as that.”
— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or sports@journaltribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.
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