Scarborough 6 Run Rally in Third Holds For the Win
SCARBOROUGH — Ray Magnant, the softball coach at Biddeford High, says there is no secret to why Scarborough’s program continues to dominate Western Class A.
“They do all the little things right,” said Magnant. “And that’s what wins ballgames.”
Saturday afternoon the Tigers pushed Scarborough as few teams have this year, yet the Red Storm once again came out on top. Top-ranked and unbeaten Scarborough scored six runs in the third inning and then held on for a 6-5 victory over No.4 Biddeford in the Western Class A semifinals.
The victory lifted the Red Storm to 18-0 and into the Western Class A championship game for the ninth consecutive year. Scarborough will play No. 2 Thornton Academy in a rematch of last year’s regional final – won by the Trojans – Wednesday at St. Joseph’s College.
Biddeford, which finished 14-4, held a 2-0 lead – a home run by Abbie Paquette in the first and an RBI double by Paquette in the third – before the Scarborough offense came alive in the bottom of the third. The Red Storm got six of their 10 hits in that inning.
“That just shows how explosive we can be,” said Tom Griffin, coach of the Red Storm. “Once we get on a roll it’s scary.”
Winning pitcher Lilly Volk led off with Scarborough’s first hit off Tiger starter Kirsten Lebreux, a double off the left-field fence. No. 9 hitter Laura Powell followed with an RBI double to the left field corner. After an out, Maggie Murphy was hit by a pitch. Then Kaleigh Scoville singled to left, scoring Powell to tie the game.
After a double steal, Abby Murrell hit a sacrifice fly for a 3-2 Scarborough lead. Then Sophia Burnham doubled in Scoville and Magnant brought in Paquette in relief. Her second pitch was hit by Chloe Griffin for an RBI double and Chloe Gorey added an RBI single before Paquette got the last out.
“If one person gets a hit, we build off the momentum of that,” said Scoville.
Biddeford kept pushing back. A two-run single by Erin Martin with two outs in the sixth made it 6-5. That’s when Griffin brought in Murrell to pitch. She got out of that inning and then faced the Tigers 3-4-5 hitters in the seventh.
After a strikeout for the first out, she gave up a single to Brook Davis.
Jocelyn Moody then slashed a line drive toward right. Scoville, the first baseman, made a diving catch that carried her to the base, which she tagged for a game-ending double play.
“If that gets through, we’re tied,” said Magnant.
Instead, the Red Storm moved on.
Batteries Lebreux, Paquette (3) and Davis; Volk, Murrell (6) and Ricker
WP Volk
LP Lebreux
SV Volk
2B B, Paquette; S, Burnham, Griffin, Powell, Volk
HR B, Paquette
Repeat hitters B, Martin, Paquette, Roy 3; S, Murphy, Griffin, Gorey
| BOX SCORE |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
R |
H |
E |
| Biddeford Varsity |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
5 |
9 |
0 |
| Varsity Red Storm |
0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
6 |
10 |
1 |
Date: June 13, 2015
Time: 1:00pm
Venue: Varsity Field
