PORTLAND—Cheverus’ softball team sat idle for nearly two weeks and as a result, its bats weren’t as potent as usual Thursday afternoon at Shea Field, but luckily for the Stags, you don’t need much offense when you can give the ball to the finest pitcher in program annals.

Freshman phenom Addison DeRoche was up to the challenge yet again, as she completely shut down Massabesic in the Class A South quarterfinals, helping Cheverus make history in the process.

DeRoche, who threw a perfect game against the Mustangs in the teams’ regular season meeting, was a little more mortal this time around, walking two batters, but she never let the underdogs entertain upset hopes.

DeRoche struck out the first seven hitters she faced and in the bottom of the third, the Stags gave her the only run she’d need, as freshman leftfielder Abby Kelly singled and came home to score on an error.

Cheverus made it 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth, as sophomore second baseman Anna Goodman singled and scored on a sacrifice fly from junior catcher Bella Napolitano Aberle.

Goodman then grounded out with the bases loaded in the fifth, bringing in another run and from there, DeRoche slammed the door, retiring the final eight hitters she faced, seven by strikeout, to make the 3-0 victory official.

DeRoche finished with a season-high 19 Ks as the Stags won a quarterfinal round game for just the second time ever, improved to 16-1, ended Massabesic’s season at 10-8 and in the process, advanced to take on No. 6 Scarborough (13-5) in the Class A South semifinals Saturday at 11 a.m.

“We’re proud of the kids for getting past this game,” said Cheverus’ first-year coach John Eisenhart. “I wouldn’t say this is a battle-tested team. We’re really young. They were nervous, but they’ve put in a great effort all season. It’s a testament to the kids’ hard work and the talent they have that we’re in the semifinals.”

Away we go

Cheverus produced the finest regular season in its 21-year varsity history, hitting the cover off the ball and riding the brilliance of DeRoche on the mound to 15 victories in 16 outings (see sidebar for links to previous stories).

The Stags did lose to Windham in the finale, but tried to turn it into a positive during the nearly two-week break heading into the playoffs.

“Everything we did wrong in that game, we went over it and we worked on it in practice,” said DeRoche.

Massabesic, meanwhile, was competitive in almost all of its games and went 9-7, good for the No. 7 seed.

Tuesday, the Mustangs held off No. 10 Bonny Eagle, 3-2, in the preliminary round to advance.

On May 22, the Stags won at Massabesic, 11-0, in five-innings, behind DeRoche’s perfect game.

The teams had never before played in the postseason.

The squads attempted to play Wednesday, but rain, thunder and lightning pushed the game back to Thursday afternoon, where, on a 66-degree day which featured widespread fog and occasional light drizzle, DeRoche set the tone with her arm and her teammates produced just enough offense to spell victory.

Cheverus freshman Addison DeRoche delivers a pitch to Massabesic pitcher and leadoff batter Felicia Proctor, who tries to bunt the ball, but fails. The Mustangs weren’t able to make much contact in the Stags’ 3-0 victory, as DeRoche threw a no-hitter, striking out 19. Michael Hoffer / The Forecaster

Massabesic junior pitcher Felicia Proctor led off and worked the count to two balls and two strikes before swinging and missing. DeRoche then fanned senior leftfielder Ella Donovan on a 2-2 pitch before doing the same to junior shortstop Emelia Theriault.

In the bottom half, Proctor got senior shortstop Kelsey Cassidy to ground back to the mound and junior rightfielder Delia Tremble to watch an off-speed pitch for strike three, but sophomore centerfielder Hailey Lamontagne, one of the state’s elite hitters, got a hold of a 2-2 pitch and drove it the other way, down the leftfield line, past a lunging Donovan, and when the ball rolled to the fence, Lamontagne raced into third with a triple.

Cheverus sophomore Hailey Lamontagne prepares to line the ball down the leftfield line against Massabesic pitcher Felicia Proctor.

Lamontagne steams into third with a triple.

After Mustangs coach Kevin Tutt elected to intentionally walk DeRoche, Goodman hit the first pitch she saw to rightfield, but it was caught by freshman rightfielder Ada Tassinari to retire the side.

DeRoche continued to dazzle in the top of the second, fanning sophomore first baseman Devenny Brickett on another 2-2 pitch, catching junior catcher Candice Daigle looking at a 2-2 pitch for strike three before striking out senior third baseman Ava Gerrish on a 1-2 pitch to make it six batters faced, six Ks.

The Stags went quietly in the bottom half, as junior first baseman Ashley Connor popped out foul to first, where Brickett made a nice catch on the run, sophomore third baseman Anna Kennedy-Jensen grounded out to second and Napolitano Aberle popped out to second.

DeRoche then fanned freshman second baseman Baylee Wright leading off the top of the third before walking sophomore centerfielder Ella Gerrish on a 3-2 pitch, ending her streak of retiring 22 consecutive Mustangs over two games. Tassinari managed to make contact, bunting the ball toward third, but Kennedy-Jensen raced in, slid and made the catch for the second out. After a passed ball moved Gerrish to second, DeRoche then returned to her strikeout ways, fanning Proctor.

Cheverus then went on top in the bottom half.

Kelly ripped a line single just past Theriault at short, then moved to second when Cassidy grounded out to third. Tremble then hit the ball at Wright at second, but she couldn’t control the sharp grounder and when the ball deflected into rightfield, Kelly raced around with the game’s first run. Lamontagne pounded the ball, but Theriault took a step to her left to snare the line drive for the second out before DeRoche watched strike three to keep the score 1-0.

DeRoche again struck out the side in the top of the fourth, fanning Donovan on a full count pitch, blowing an 0-2 pitch past Theriault and fanning Brickett on an 0-2 offering.

The Stags added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth.

Goodman led off with a sharp single to left-center and Connor followed with a ground single up the middle before Kennedy-Jensen walked on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases. That brought up Napoiltano-Aberle, who lined the first pitch she saw to right. Tassinari made the catch, but Goodman was able to come home on the sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.

Cheverus still had two runners in scoring position, but when Kelly flew out to right, the runners tagged up and Eisenhart tried to send Connor all the way home, but Tassinari threw to Wright, who fired home to Daigle, who applied the tag to end the inning.

In the top of the fifth, DeRoche caught Daigle looking at strike three, then walked Ava Gerrish on a 3-2 pitch, but that would be Massabesic’s final baserunner of the afternoon. DeRoche then fanned both Wright and Ella Gerrish.

The Stags scored their final run in the bottom of the fifth.

Cassidy walked on four pitches leading off and after Tremble lined out to left, Lamontagne singled to center, moving Cassidy to second. After a wild pitch moved both runners up, Proctor fell behind DeRoche 3-1, then Tutt had her walked intentionally to load the bases. Goodman then did her job, making contact and while she grounded out to third, Cassidy was able to score .Connor popped out to second, but the lead was 3-0.

DeRoch fanned Tassinari leading off the top of the sixth, but on a 3-2 pitch, Proctor made solid contact, only to line out to Lamontagne in center. DeRoche then struck out Donovan swinging to retire the side.

Cheverus had a chance to break the game open in the bottom half, but couldn’t do so.

After Kennedy-Jensen led off with a sharp double over the head of Tassinari in right, Napolitano Aberle made solid contact as well, but lined out to center. A wild pitch moved Kennedy-Jensen to third, then Kelly struck out swinging on a 3-2 pitch. Sophomore Sadie Collins came on to hit for Cassidy and was hit by a pitch that bounced in the dirt. Tremble then drew a walk on a 3-1 pitch to load the bases and bring up Lamontagne, but she hit the ball back to the mound and Proctor threw her out to send the contest to the seventh.

And there, DeRoche wasted no time bringing the curtain down, first catching Theriault looking at strike three, fanning junior pinch-hitter Finia Freitag on three pitches before firing strike three past Daigle to end it, 3-0, in the Stags’ favor.

“Coming back after our last regular season game, our energy was a little low, but we played free today,” said DeRoche.

DeRoche has been special from the moment she took the mound this spring and was spectacular in her first playoff start, going seven hitless, scoreless innings, walking just two and striking out a career-high (for now) 19.

“It was helpful that it was a little cool,” DeRoche said. “I had confidence in my team to make plays behind me.”

“(Addison) was outstanding again today,” Eisenhart said. “She loves to compete. She loves this environment. We needed that effort from her today.”

Lamontagne paced the offense with two hits. Cassidy, Goodman and Kelly all scored runs, while Goodman and Napolitano Aberle had RBI.

The Stags left nine runners on base.

“We’d been off for almost two weeks and I think that showed up at the plate,” said Eisenhart. “We need to hit better with runners in scoring position than we did today. I do expect us to hit better in our next game.”

Proctor pitched well for Massabesic, keeping Cheverus off balance much of the day, but she gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits in her six innings of work. Proctor walked five and struck out three.

“She threw tremendously well for us,” Tutt said. “The game plan was to limit big innings.”

“Give Massabesic a ton of credit, their pitcher was outstanding,” Eisenhart said. “I thought Coach Tutt called a great game. They did a great job keeping us off-balance, keeping it away from our big hitters.”

Ultimately, the Mustangs simply couldn’t do anything with the brilliant DeRoche.

“She’s a stud,” Tutt said. “She spins it and has a crazy rise ball. She’s a really great kid too. I respect her and every kid out there. Johnny Eisenhart has done a great job this year.

“We came into the season figuring .500 was where we wanted to be. We let a couple games get away. If we got up into a different tier, we wouldn’t have faced (Cheverus) in round two.”

With only Donovan and Ava Gerrish graduating, Massabesic hopes to be right back in the thick of contention again in 2025.

“This was a great experience,” Tutt said. “Hopefully we can take it another level next year. We’ll try.”

Saturday showdown

Saturday, Cheverus will take part in a semifinal round playoff game for just the second time ever (2014 was the other), when it battles Scarborough (a 6-1 upset winner at No. 3 Gorham in its quarterfinal Thursday).

The Stags blanked the visiting Red Storm, 6-0, on a DeRoche no-hitter in her debut April 23.

Scarborough won both prior playoff meetings, 3-0 in the 2008 quarterfinal round and 10-0 (in six-innings) in the preliminary round two years ago.

Cheverus will get to play on its home diamond one final time and hopes to continue to make history and advance to the regional final for the first time ever.

“We left a lot of runners on base and that can’t happen moving forward,” DeRoche said. “We have to keep the energy up and execute the little things. We have stay sharp on offense and defense.”

“It’s great to be at home one more time,” Eisenhart said. “Scarborough’s a very good team. I knew the path to the regional final won’t be easy. We’ll have our hands full Saturday.”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net.