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High school softball quarterfinals: Yarmouth, Noble, Thornton, Fryeburg advance to semifinals
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Western Class B softball: Yarmouth pulls away from Leavitt
The Clippers get their offense going after a slow start and move on to the semifinals with a 6-0 win.Colleen Sullivan of Yarmouth slides safely into second for a stolen base as Leavitt’s Kassie Murch fields the throw Thursday during their Western Class B softball quarterfinal. Yarmouth won, 6-0.YARMOUTH — Junior pitcher Mari Cooper watched her Yarmouth High softball teammates go scoreless for the first three innings Thursday afternoon but wasn’t concerned.
“I knew that we were on it through the first few innings,” said Cooper. “Everyone was making contact. And I just knew that this was our speed, this was what we like to hit. So I had no doubt that we were going to get our bats going by the third or fourth inning.”
That’s exactly what happened. The fourth-seeded Clippers scored all their runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to defeat fifth-seeded Leavitt 6-0 in a Western Class B softball quarterfinal.
Cooper allowed just three hits and struck out nine to shut down the Hornets.
Yarmouth (14-3) will face top-seeded Greely at 4 p.m. Saturday in Cumberland in a regional semifinal. Greely beat the Clippers 12-2 on May 6.
Neither team could mount much offense in the early going. And when they did, the defense usually rose up. Leavitt shortstop Angela Daigle ended the third inning with a diving, backhanded catch of a line drive by Kallie Hutchinson, saving a run.
But the Hornets never got their hitting untracked against Cooper, who didn’t allow a hit until Morgan Knowlton singled with two outs in the fifth.
“That’s been a problem all year,” said Leavitt Coach Kevin Leonard. “Usually (the hits) come in a flurry or they don’t come. Unfortunately, today was a day they didn’t come at all.”
And Yarmouth finally strung some hits together. With one out in the fourth, Cat Thompson tripled to right field, just beating the throw. Then Eleanor O’Gorman singled up the middle off Daigle’s glove to make it 1-0. O’Gorman was sacrificed to second and came all the way around on Cate Ralph’s slow roller to second. Ralph beat the throw to first for a single and O’Gorman never hesitated, sliding in to make it 2-0.
“She made that call on her own,” said Yarmouth Coach Amy Ashley. “I told her to look. We’ve been talking about being as aggressive as we can to manufacture runs. So I was proud of her for making that call.”
O’Gorman said she saw a bobble on the throw to first, then decided to race home. “I knew they weren’t thinking to go home, so I took advantage of it and went home,” she said.
An RBI single by Cooper made it 3-0 in the fifth. Then the Clippers added three runs in the bottom of the sixth, with Leavitt committing two of its five errors. Andrea St. Pierre had an RBI double and Sophie McGrath knocked in another run.
“We’ve had girls step up in every single position and (every) part of our lineup,” said Ashley. “It hasn’t been one girl that has been carrying us the whole time, and I think that makes us a little more dangerous.”
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Western Class A softball: Noble knocks off No. 3 Sanford
Morgan Perillo's home run in the seventh inning lifts the sixth-seeded Knights to a 6-4 quarterfinal win.SANFORD — After striking out three times against Sanford High pitcher Jen Jones, Noble’s Morgan Perillo had one thought when she got a chance to bat with two outs in the top of the seventh.
“I was like, ‘I’m not letting her strike me out this time,'” Perillo said.
Not only did she avoid another strikeout, she blasted a two-run homer over the right-center field fence for the deciding runs in sixth-seeded Noble’s 6-4 win in a Western Class A quarterfinal at Witham Street Field.
Junior pitcher Shaughnessey Gower worked around a one-out single and an outfield error in the bottom of the seventh to finish off the victory. Gower allowed 11 hits but stranded nine runners and received strong defensive support.
Kayla Lessard at second made several good running catches. Right fielder Emma Burns charged a would-be single by Marli Wilson and threw Wilson out at first, negating a run that would have given Sanford a 5-4 lead in the fourth inning.
“I couldn’t ask for a better team,” Gower said. “They’re always behind me, always getting the ball for me, and they’re just wonderful.”
Noble (12-6) will take a nine-game winning streak into a regional semifinal Saturday at No. 2 Thornton Academy (15-2), which beat Falmouth, 8-6.
The Knights’ last loss was a 3-1 setback against third-seeded Sanford (14-3) on May 15.
This time, Noble generated eight hits against Jones (12 strikeouts, three walks). Singles by Melodie Bailey and Tyler Chastney (bunt) each drove in a run in the third inning. Mackenzie Aleva, a freshman, doubled off the fence to drive home a run in the fourth, and Lessard added an RBI single.
Sanford quickly responded both times, getting two runs in the bottom of third and two in the fourth to make it 4-4.
Wilson (2 for 4) grounded a two-run single up the middle in the third. In the fourth, Nicole Main drove a double to the gap in left-center to score Isabelle Johnston (3 for 4) and Lauren Thompson, who both singled.
In the seventh, Jones retired the first two Noble batters. Chastney followed with a pop into shallow right toward the foul line. Second baseman Thompson got to the ball but was unable to secure the catch.
“That’s not an easy play,” Sanford Coach Mike Bailey said. “She worked hard to get there. The ball is going away with a lot of spin on it. That’s really a difficult play. She tried her hardest to get to that and we respect her for that.”
Then Perillo cashed in.
“Oh for three with three Ks and then she got the one that counted,” Noble Coach Rick Melanson said.
“She didn’t hang her head. She hung in there and now she’s the hero.”
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Western Class A softball: Thornton advances by defeating Falmouth
The Trojans clamp down in the late innings for an 8-6 victory.SACO — Second-seeded Thornton Academy scored four times in the first inning and held off seventh-ranked Falmouth for an 8-6 victory Thursday in a Western Class A softball quarterfinal.
Bailey Tremblay of the Trojans (15-2) pitched a complete game, and added an RBI and a run.
“They have some big hitters in the middle of their lineup, so it was important for me to mix it up and hit spots,” Tremblay said. “It was what I was trying to do the entire game.”
Falmouth (10-8), which reached the playoffs for the first time since 2007, jumped to a 2-0 advantage in the first inning when Julia Treadwell and Jessica Collins brought in runs with singles.
In the bottom of the inning, the Trojans scored four times and took control.
After a pop out and back-to-back walks, Kaya O’Connor of Thornton came through with a two-run single to make the score 2-2.
Keira Fitzgerald drove in two more runs with a single to center field, and the Trojans gave Tremblay the run support she needed.
“It was kind of a sloppy game on both sides,” Thornton Coach John Provost said. “(Tremblay) was gritty, though. It wasn’t her best performance but she kept us in the game and she finished it.”
The Yachtsmen managed to tie the game in the third inning when Madeline Rouhana came around to score on a single by Treadwell.
Allison Murphy of Falmouth then hit an RBI groundout to make it 4-4.
A run-scoring double by Maizie Lee with two outs in the bottom half broke the tie and gave the Trojans a 5-4 lead going into the fourth inning.
In the top of the fourth, Falmouth’s Rouhana hit a double into the gap in right-center to score Katie Green, tying the game again, this time at 5-5.
A critical error by Falmouth with two outs allowed Libby Pomerleau to come around and score in the bottom half, giving the Trojans what ended up being the winning run.
“We gave ourselves ample opportunity to score in this game,” Provost said, “but I think the key was the sixth and seventh inning, we really clamped down on our defense.”
Thornton added a run in the sixth on an RBI single by Tremblay.
The Yachtsmen pushed one last run across in the seventh, when Rouhana hit a double and scored on an outfield error.
But it was too little too late for Falmouth.
“Our team has a lot of character,” Tremblay said.
“We were down, had some plays with miscommunication, but we stepped up and knew what we had to do.”
The Golden Trojans will be home Saturday to take on sixth-seeded Noble, which advanced by beating Sanford.
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Thursday’s softball roundup: Fryeburg upsets York in quarterfinals
The seventh-seeded Raiders advance in Western Class B with a 4-0 win over No. 2 York.YORK — Nicole Bennett scattered eight hits as seventh-seeded Fryeburg Academy upset No. 2 York 4-0 in a Western Class B softball quarterfinal Thursday.
Bennett and Kristen Chipman each hit a double for Fryeburg (12-6), which got a run in the first inning, one in the third and two in the sixth.
Ashlee Ortstadt had a pair of singles for York (15-1). Stephanie Rundlett took the loss despite striking out 13 and allowing only four hits.
GREELY 9, POLAND 5: Audrey Mann’s two-run single keyed a five-run fifth inning as the top-seeded Rangers (14-3) overcame a 5-4 deficit to beat No. 8 Poland (12-6) in a Western Class B quarterfinal in Cumberland.
Miranda Moore had a home run and two RBI for Greely.
Michaella Arsenault rapped three hits and Kelsey Deburra two hits for the Knights.
GRAY-NEW GLOUCESTER 2, LINCOLN ACADEMY 1: Allie Martel threw a four-hitter as the sixth-seeded Patriots (12-5) edged the third-seeded Eagles (15-2) in a Western Class B quarterfinal at Newcastle.
Maria Valente led the offense for Gray-New Gloucester with three hits, including a double. Cara Waltz added a pair of singles.
Morgan Achorn had pair of singles for Lincoln Academy.
SCARBOROUGH 12, WINDHAM 8: Kaleigh Scoville went 4 for 5, with two RBI and scored three runs as the top-seeded Red Storm (17-0) held off the eighth-seeded Eagles (10-8) in a Western Class A quarterfinal at Scarborough.
Abbie Murrell lined a two-run homer to spark a five-run fourth inning as Scarborough broke a 4-4 tie.
Seven players had at least two hits apiece for the Red Storm, who finished with 17 hits.
Madison Elliott and Oliva Mora each had a single and a double for Windham, and Christina Mooradian added a pair of singles.
OCEANSIDE 4, JOHN BAPST 2: Ari Curtis hit a pair of RBI singles and Paige Tyler pitched a three-hitter as the fourth-seeded Mariners (15-3) beat the 12th-seeded Crusaders (7-11) in an Eastern Class B quarterfinal at Thomaston.
Oceanside grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Lauren Miller doubled and scored on a single by Curtis. Kalyn Grover added another RBI single before scoring on a wild pitch.
Kayla Massey hit a two-run homer in the third to pull the Crusaders to within 3-2.
Curtis singled home Miller in the fifth.
MESSALONSKEE 6, MT. ARARAT 0: Kirsten Pelletier struck out 12, walked none and allowed two hits for top-seeded Messalonskee (14-3) in an Eastern Class A quarterfinal win over No. 9 Mt. Ararat (7-11) in Oakland.
Messalonskee took the lead in the third inning when Kristy Prelgovisk and Madisyn Charest scored on a single by Hannah Duperry.
Duperry and Charest each had three hits, while Pelletier and MollyAn Killingbeck added two hits apiece. Dakota Bragg drove in two runs.
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