STANDISH — In the end, Wednesday’s Western Class B softball regional final between No. 1 Cape Elizabeth and No. 3 Wells came down to one, simple fact: The Warriors had Jordan Agger on their team, and the Capers didn’t. Agger and her bat ”“ with her glove playing a supporting role ”“ were instrumental in Wells’ 8-3 victory at Richard W. Bailey Field on the St. Joseph’s College campus, which sends the Warriors to the state championship game.

The Warriors scored a pair of runs in the top of the first, succeeding at the small-ball style that worked for them in a semifinal win over Fryeburg. Maddie Taylor led off with a single, then after a sacrifice bunt, Lauren Bame hit a single herself and moved to second as the throw went to third to try to cut down Taylor. Agger then hit a single that scored Taylor, and after Agger played pickle between first and second, pinch runner Hannah Moody also scored.

“We know if there’s a base runner on third, we’ve got to try to stay alive until that run scores, and that’s what I did,” said Agger.

“You always want to try and set the tone early,” Wells head coach Kevin Fox said of his team’s first-inning output. “It kind of gives confidence to the rest of the batters when you have that success.”

Agger had no need to play pickle after her next three at-bats, as she hit home runs each time, all over the fence in left-center field.

“I was ready to play today, and I was hoping they would pitch me some strikes, because I was sure ready to swing this bat,” said Agger.

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The first round-tripper came in the top of the third, after the Capers scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the second. Agger sent a two-out offering from Capers starting pitcher Katie Rabasca over the head of left fielder Anna Goldstein, and eventually over the fence.

Cape Elizabeth tied the game back up with a run in the bottom of the fourth, on an RBI-single by Megan Nicholson, but again, the Warriors didn’t let the game stay knotted up for long.

Rabasca walked Steph Woods leading off the top of the fifth, then allowed an RBI-double to Bame, which ended her outing. Goldstein took over, and Agger greeted her with a no-doubt home run well over the fence.

The Capers nearly had an answer in the bottom of the fifth, but Agger made a heads-up play to sniff it out. Bame threw wild pitch ball four with a runner at third. Elise Flathers took off for home, but Agger, playing third, handled the ricochet up the third-base line and fired it to Meg Young, who held on after a collision with Flathers to end the inning.

“She’s phenomenal on both sides of the ball,” Fox said of Agger.

Agger capped off her day at the plate with possibly the unlikeliest of her three home runs in the top of the seventh. With one on and one out, it appeared Goldstein might intentionally walk Agger, as Capers head coach Joe Henrikson devised a plan with his infield at the mound, and Goldstein threw an outside pitch with her first offering to Agger. But the second pitch didn’t miss, and Agger didn’t either.

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“I thought she was going to walk me. But instead of letting my guard down, I was just ready to swing the bat every pitch,” said Agger. “It’s a far fence. I was hoping to at least get one, maybe, today. But three, I didn’t think I could do that.”

Agger then finished off her day by recording the first out of the bottom of the seventh, as she made a shoestring catch of an Ashley Tinsman liner. Two outs later, the Warriors clinched their ticket to their first-ever state title game in softball.

“This is the biggest win of them all,” said Agger. “Everybody kind of doubted Wells, since Cape was undefeated. We just showed everybody, doubters no more.”

According to Fox, the doubters that didn’t see what he saw in Agger were also proved wrong.

“I’ve been saying all along she’s a player, and people weren’t quite believing me,” said Fox, “and I think they’re going to believe us after today.”

The Warriors will face No. 3 Hermon in the Class B title game at 4 p.m. at Brewer High School on Saturday. The Hawks passed a similar test in reaching the championship game, as they beat No. 1 and undefeated Gardiner in the Eastern Maine regional final.

Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or sports@journaltribune.com.



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