Sometimes small steps don’t get a team anywhere fast. That will try any team’s patience and resolve.
Despite a winless start to the season, the Lewiston softball team hasn’t let it dampen their spirits.
The Blue Devils have been making progress, and they’ve seen it in recent games. It gave them reason to believe bigger and better things weren’t far away.
“We came in confident, which was a big part for us,” said junior Courtney Marquis. “We always try to come in doing that and that helped us a lot.
“We’re definitely progressing great. We’re working together as a team. We’re working hard. That’s what got us this far.”
Lewiston hosted Brunswick in a battle of winless teams, but the Blue Devils produced a solid team effort to produce their first victory of the season.
Lewiston broke open the game with eight runs in the third, and then finished off the Dragons for a 16-4 win through six innings.
“We’ve been in some really close games,” said Lewiston coach Erica Crowley. “We always have one inning that gets away from us.”
Marquis had four hits and drove in a run for Lewiston. Maggie Phalen added three hits and drove in three. Mikayla Dutil and Kaylyn Labonte each had a hit and drove in a pair. Lewiston finished with 14 hits and had nine different players get a hit.
Tough one for Dragons
It was a tough outing for Brunswick. Not only did the Dragons (0-8) have to start the game without two regulars, things got complicated when it came time to sub them in. One player was called out for not being reported. Then another player wasn’t allowed to bat when the umpire claimed she hadn’t been reported in either, even though Brunswick coach Hugh Dwyer apparently gave him the changes.
“I told the girls that sometimes you don’t have your best stuff and when a situation gets chaotic everybody pays for it,” Dwyer said, who started the game without Mary Sasso and Julia Carpenter. Both were delayed because of tests back at school. “ I think they did their best job. I knew what I said, but he heard it differently, and we have to accept that.”
The Dragons had four errors in the field, including three in the third inning. Brunswick sorely missed Carpenter at shortstop.
“KK (Teel) and (Faith) Flaherty stepped in for them and had nice games with the bat,” said Dwyer. “Defensively, it showed. That’s a strength, and we had four people out of position and that showed.”
Brunswick took the lead early with a run in the first. Ashley Howe drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Lewiston stranded three runners in the first and then tied the game in the bottom of the second when Loretta Rice scored on a wild pitch. The Blue Devils still left two runners on.
In the third, Lewiston scored eight runs on five hits and three Brunswick errors. Maegon Mathon scored a Sami Rioux fielder’s choice. Then Alesha Gregoire scored on a grounder and error on a hit by Emily Turner. Rioux scored on a wild pitch. Then Rice singled hard off the shortstop to make it 5-1. Mathon followed with a hit at short that was misplayed, allowing two runs to score. Phelan followed with a tworun double.
“We’re a team when if we make mistakes, we’re going to compound them with our inexperience,” Dwyer said. “Give Lewiston credit, they took advantage. We’ve got to get over that.”
Brunswick got one back in the fourth on a Marge Dickinson RBI single.
Carpenter then came in and delivered a two-run single that would have made it 9-4, but she was never reported. She was called out for batting out of order and the inning was over.
Lewiston made it 12-2 in the fourth. Labonte hit a two-run homer and Marquis added an RBI single.
Brunswick, scheduled to host Edward Little on Friday, got two in the sixth when a Carpenter single and an error allowed two runs to score. That was the inning where the Dragons tried to have Sasso come to bat, having already been reported, but the umpire was adamant that she had not been reported.
Lewiston added four more in the sixth to end the game by the 12-run rule.
Lewiston freshman pitcher Makayla Girouard scattered seven hits, allowing only five over the final five innings. She only walked one batter.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less