MT. ARARAT HIGH SCHOOL first baseman Kate Guerin, left, readies for a ground ball while Edward Little base runner Emily Lashua looks on. Guerin was 3-for-3 at the plate, but Lashua’s three-run seventh-inning home run provided the Red Eddies with a 6-1 win.
As the end of the high school softball season nears, teams are jockeying for position, looking to get hot at the right time as the playoffs approach.
MT. ARARAT base runner Zoe Stilphen, left, and Edward LIttle third baseman Kylie Bureau watch the ball during early-inning softball action in Topsham on Wednesday.
In the end, it was the power hitting of the visiting Red Eddies that did the trick in a 6-1 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference win over the Eagles.
EL improved to 11-4 and currently sits in third place in the standings, while No. 5 Mt. Ararat is 9-4, having dropped three of its last four games after an 8-1 start.
Leading 2-1 in the seventh, Red Eddies leadoff hitter Kylie Bureau turned on a Molly Temple offering, sending the ball inches over the left-center field fence for a 3- 1 lead.
Later in the frame, birthday girl Emily Lashua followed suit, with her three-run home run clinching it.
“(The home run) took pressure off of us in the field in the seventh inning,” said Lashua, who was 3-for-4 with a home run, double, a run scored and three RBIs. “I was in a slump, so that home run felt good. And to beat a good team like Mt. Ararat allows us to move forward.”
For Mt. Ararat, it was a game of missed opportunities. The Eagles had at least one hit in all seven innings against EL freshman hurler Chantel Ouellette. But, the hosts left nine runners on base.
“We left runners on base, and they hit when they had runners on,” said Mt. Ararat co-coach Brooke Cox. “We played well and they played well. It was a good game both ways. We had the fans sitting on the edges of their seats. It was a great day to be at a softball game.”
Three scoreless
Both teams threatened in the opening three frames, but neither cracked the scoreboard. EL’s best chance came in the third inning when with two outs, Taylor Depot and Grace Beaudet singled around a walk to Olivia Jensen to load the bases. But, Mt. Ararat starting pitcher Alana Weaver (four innings, three strikeouts, one walk, six hits) escaped.
Mt. Ararat twice put runners into scoring position, including a two-out double by Kate Guerin, who was 3- for-3 on the day. Ouellette worked around three early Eagle hits.
“She came in this year and had started two varsity sports, and she has really come along and has had some opportunities to really shine,” said EL coach Elaine Derosby of Ouellette, who struck out three and walked one.
EL broke the ice in the fourth. Anna LeBlanc sent a Weaver offering well past the left-center field fence for a solo home run and a 1-0 Red Eddies lead. Later in the frame, a dropped fly ball allowed Ouellette to score for a 2-0 edge.
Mt. Ararat put up its lone run in the bottom of the fourth. Holly Temple walked, and Belle Benner and Guerin each singled. Temple was given the stop sign at third, but a misplayed ball in the outfield allowed her to score an unearned run.
EL had runners at second and third with one out in the fifth. However, Jensen was thrown out at the plate by Guerin to complete a double play, keeping the Eagles within a run.
In the fifth and sixth frames, the Eagles had the tying run in scoring position, but failed to find the clutch hit.
“I think our team played well today, but hitting at the right time is crucial and we didn’t today,” said Guerin.
Heading into the seventh, both squads had the top of the order coming up. It was EL that did the damage and clinched the game.
“We talked about that right before the seventh inning, with us having the top of the order up and we needed to get some runs for our defense,” said Derosby, whose squad hosts rival Lewiston in its regular-season finale on Tuesday.
A two-out single in the seventh by Katelyn Cox (2- for-4) again kept Ouellette from a perfect frame, but the freshman calmly retired the final Eagles hitter on a fly ball to center field.
Stilphen joined Katelyn Cox with two hits, while Kelsey Scannevin had a pinch-hit single.
With three games left, Mt. Ararat will look to find its rhythm once again.
“We play Skowhegan (today), Brunswick and Oxford Hills, and all three are quality teams,” said Brooke Cox. “We just need to get the hits when we have runners on base, string some together. Defensively we are pretty sound.”
Jensen and Depot had two hits each for EL, which pounded out 11 hits.
Edward Little 6, Mt. Ararat 1
At Topsham
| EL | — | 000 | 200 | 4 | — | 6- | 11-1 | ||
| Mt. | Ararat — 000 | 100 | 0 | — | 1- | 9- | 1 | ||
Chantel Ouellette and Emily Lashua; Alana Weaver, Holly Temple (5) and Kayleigh Temple. WP — Ouellette; LP — Weaver. Doubles — (EL) Emily Lashua; (MtA) Kate Guerin, Katelyn Cox. Home runs — (EL) Anna LeBlanc, Kylie Bureau, Emily Lashua. Repeat hitters — (EL) Olivia Jensen, Emily Lashua (3), Taylor Depot; (MtA) Kate Guerin (3), Katelyn Cox. Records — Edward Little 11-4; Mt. Ararat 9-4. Up next for the Eagles — Today at Skowhegan, 3 p.m.
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