Taylor Crosby scored on an infield single by Gianna Gaudet in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift Portland to a 3-2 softball win over Marshwood in a Class A South prelim game Monday.

No. 8 Portland also scored in the seventh inning to tie the game 2-2 when Morgan Boyle scored on a fielder’s choice by Jess Brown.

“It’s a lot like (a fairy tale),” said Brown. “Except that it’s all happening in reality.”

The win over No. 9 Marshwood (9-8) was the first in the postseason since 2006 for the Bulldogs (10-7), who advance to play No. 1 Scarborough in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

“This is just another win,” said Portland Coach Robbie Ferrante. “We’ve taken some baby steps, and now it’s time to take some bigger steps. I told the girls, ‘enjoy this one for about 20 hours, then we’ll come back to work and if you don’t think you can win Thursday, don’t come back tomorrow.’ I’m willing to bet we have all 15 kids here tomorrow.”

Brown, Portland’s starting pitcher, was locked into a duel with Marshwood’s Emily Robida. In the regular season, Robida pitched a one-hit shutout against the Bulldogs in a 5-0 win on May 16. Brown won this time, allowing three hits and striking out 12 in eight innings.

“Jess is only a sophomore, and she’s very mature,” said Ferrante. “She’s only going to get better, too. She really enjoys this game. Jess is just a competitor.”

The Bulldogs had four hits in the third inning and took a 1-0 lead when Annie Twombly scored on a single by Kit Rosmus.

Marshwood tied it in the top of the fourth when Emersyn Colbath-Stevens was hit by a pitch, stole second, third and home. The Hawks took the lead in the sixth when Elora Montgomery led off with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Maddy Eastman.

Portland tied it in the seventh when Boyle reached on a fielder’s choice, went to second on a wild pitch and third on a passed ball. Brown then hit a hard grounder to third and Boyle beat the throw to the plate.

“We just did not want to go down without a fight,” said Brown.

In the bottom of the eighth, Crosby – who was 0 for 3 at that point – lined a triple to deep center field to lead off the inning. Gaudet followed with a hard hit ball up the middle that Robida couldn’t cleanly knock down, and Crosby dashed home for the win.

“I wasn’t doing too hot at the beginning of the game and I just knew I didn’t want to let my team down,” said Crosby. “Once I made the contact and knew where it was going, I just hustled.”

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