Red Storm Softball

Storm Pour on the Hits and Runs vs Windham

HR -- S, Giles.
Triples --
Doubles -- S, Hannan 2, Williamson, Burnham, Damon.
Repeat hitters -- S, Hannan 3, Burnham 3, Farnkoff 3, Williamson, Giles, Damon, Moore-Haskell.

SCARBOROUGH – The Scarborough softball team needs just one more win to complete a perfect regular season after making quick work of the Windham Eagles, 15-0, on Wednesday afternoon.

Dominique Burnham improved to 3-0 on the season after pitching four innings of no-hit ball before Mo Hannan came in to close it out. Erin Giles lead the way offensively for the Red Storm with a homer and four RBI. All that stands in the way of a perfect regular season now is a game Friday afternoon against Westbrook.

“It definitely felt really good today because the last couple of days our offense hasn’t been as great as we started out with in the beginning,” said Giles. “Today we really pulled through and everyone was hitting the ball extremely well.

That may have been an understatement, believe it or not.

The Red Storm (15-0) had seven of their nine starters have multiple hits, while Hannan, Burnham and Grace Farnkoff had three hits apiece.

“We were feeding off of each other’s energy,” said Giles. “Once people started getting hits, everyone starting getting hits. It really gave us a lot of momentum for the rest of the game.”

Alyssa Williamson doubled in the bottom of the first to score Hannan before Windham starter Maddie Elliot was able to retire the side. In the second, the Red Storm bats exploded.

Farnkoff and Paige Moore Haskell lead of the inning with consecutive singles before Hannan smacked a two-RBI double. Marissa O’Toole followed with an RBI single to make it 4-0.

After Williamson popped out, Giles roped a two-run homer into the parking lot to make it 6-0.

“That was nice,” said Giles. “It was more of a line-drive home run. I actually didn’t even know it was going to be out.”

Farnkoff would add another RBI single to make it 7-0 before the inning came to a close.

The Red Storm offense allowed Burnham to settle in and cruise through the Eagles’ lineup.

“It kind of lifts the pressure on me somewhat,” said Burnham. “That way, if I give up one or two runs, it’s not really a big deal.”

After forcing Elliot from the game, Eagles’ reliever Sara Richards faired no better against the Red Storm as they scored eight more times in the bottom of the fourth to stretch the lead to 15-0.

The only bright spot on the day for the Eagles (3-11) was the fact that they managed to escape without being no-hit when Miranda Richards singled in the top of the fifth.

It’s hard to believe that back-to-back wins of 3-1 over Marshwood and 7-3 over Cheverus would cause the Red Storm to feel as if they weren’t at their best. It’s true, however.

Through 15 games this season, the Storm has scored a mind-boggling 179 runs and has only failed to reach double digits three times. Still, Tom Griffin’s bunch knows that there is room for improvement.

“We secured the No. 1 spot a week or so ago and don’t really have the top teams to play so we’ve been kind of coasting a little bit and not emotionally really into it,” said Griffin. “We challenged the kids today to really get back in a groove and get some momentum and get excited about playing.”

While his team remains the clear-cut favorite to repeat as state champions, Griffin shot down any notion of his team feeling a sense of overconfidence heading into the postseason.

“My kids are pretty well schooled; they know what’s at stake,” Griffin said. “They know there is some really good competition and that we have to play our best ball and peak at the right time. I don’t think we’ve played our best ball the last couple of weeks. Today was a good sign and hopefully we’ll finish off the season on Friday with a good game.”

Date: May 23, 2012     Time: 4:00pm      Venue: Varsity Field