WINDHAM — Even though the Windham High softball team had won its first three games of the season, the Eagles knew their record didn’t mean they were perfect.
“After our past couple of games, we realized our energy was kind of down,” senior pitcher Brooke Gerry said. “We really wanted to make sure that, this game, we were up and we were ready.”
The reigning Class A state champions showed Friday that they were quite ready. Kennedy Kimball hit a grand slam and drove in six runs, Gerry struck out six while keeping her earned-run average at 0.00, and the Eagles beat Gorham, 13-0 in five innings, in a matchup of Class A South contenders.
“All day at school, we were all seeing each other in the halls, and we were all super excited about (Friday’s game),” Gerry said. “For us, we just knew that if we kept our energy up, it would be in our favor.”
Both Windham (4-0) and Gorham (2-1), which reached the South semifinals last season, returned the bulk of their lineups and figure to be among the last teams standing this spring. But the Eagles had all the answers Friday, scoring five runs in the first, five in the second and three in the third.
“I think our first three games, my biggest challenge to the girls was our energy level and keeping that up,” Eagles Coach Darcey Gardiner said. “You saw it right from inning one in this game.”
Gerry began the bottom of the first by drawing a walk, and Addie Caiazzo and Stella Jarvais reached on back-to-back bunt singles to load the bases. After Oakley McLeod drew a walk to force in the first run, Kimball slammed Amber Bretton’s 1-1 offering over the fence in dead center for a 5-0 lead.
“I did not know (it was gone), actually. I didn’t even see it,” Kimball said. “That was extremely cool to me. It didn’t really hit me until I was at home that it was a grand slam. … It was a good start. I knew Amber’s a great pitcher and everything, so it was a confidence boost for me.”
In the second inning, Gerry reached on a fielder’s choice, Caiazzo was hit by a pitch and Jarvais reached on an error, loading the bases again. Kimball hit a line drive over the shortstop into left, scoring two more runs.
“She’s amazing,” Gerry said. “She works incredibly hard at practice and on the field. Whenever Kennedy’s up, we know something big is going to happen.”
Nola Bryant added another two-run single in the second, and Jarvais clubbed a two-run homer in the third.
“It took us an inning or two to get going in our other games,” Kimball said. “This game, we felt more like ourselves. … It clicked, and it all came together.”
It was far too deep a hole for Gorham, which got two hits from Andi Cloutier and one each from Winnie Dubail and Sophia DiPhilippo.
“Our goal is to play teams like this and get better. Every time you face a pitcher like that, you play a team like that, we’re going to get better,” Gorham Coach Jason Dubail said. “We’re not going to live and die by results, game by game. … It’s a long season. It’s a long season in a short amount of time.”
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