Before Tuesday night’s much-anticipated and once-postponed game under the lights against Deering, Scarborough softball coach Tom Griffin reminded his team that starting pitcher Kelsey Griffin, his daughter, couldn’t be expected to strikeout 15 or more batters.
This wasn’t a slight. The point Griffin was trying to make was that, against a good team like Deering, the ball would be in play and a team effort would be essential.
Well, Griffin did her part – she struck out 10 – and the other eight players on the field took care of the rest. Scarborough beat Deering, 3-1, to remain undefeated.
“These kids are just amazing me,” said Griffin, the coach. “They just come to play every day. That’s what we ask them to do. We’re not overpowering teams. They’re just doing what we need to do, executing, getting good at-bats when we need to, and obviously we’re getting phenomenal pitching and defense.”
The first inning set the tone for the night.
In the top half, Griffin got a popout to third and back-to-back strikeouts to retire the side.
In the bottom of the inning, leadoff hitter Kira Gordon worked a walk and then stole second. Griffin then struck out, but catcher Meaghan Myers followed with a single that moved Gordon to third.
The next batter, senior Ambre Davidson, who returned to the lineup recently after injuring her left knee, hit a soft, spinning liner past the outstretched glove of Deering shortstop Sarah DeRoche. Gordon scored, and Myers moved up to second.
Caitlin LeBorgne then delivered another single. Myers hesitated while rounding third, but ultimately slid around the tag of Deering catcher Katie Bustin to make it 2-0.
“We were definitely really motivated and we had a lot of enthusiasm coming into the game, and I think we just wanted it really bad,” said LeBorgne.
Griffin continued her dominance in the second inning, getting two more strikeouts. She didn’t give up a hit until the top of the third, when Krista Merrill reached on a bunt single with two outs. The batter before, Katie Williams, walked, so Griffin was in her first jam of the night. She got out of it, though, when Ashley Durgin lined out to second.
“The lineup they had, the first four or five batters were strong,” said Griffin, the pitcher. “But before the game I was feeling good.”
And during it, too.
The Rams didn’t threaten again until the top of the sixth inning, when they struck for their only run. Bustin reached on a two-out single to centerfield and stole second. Mellissa Caiazzo then grounded hard to freshman third baseman Catie Funk, who was able to knock the ball down, but not throw the runner out in time. Bustin came around on the play to cut the lead to 2-1.
But that was all the Rams would get. And, as if on cue, the Red Storm picked Griffin up in the bottom half of the inning. LeBorgne provided another RBI single – a hard chopper up the middle that knocked Deering pitcher Leslie Warn to the ground – making it 3-1.
“I was really relieved after that because we had just given up a run and we were only one run ahead, so that definitely insured us,” said LeBorgne. “We were just more relaxed the next inning.”
So relaxed, in fact, that they recorded another 1-2-3 inning.
“We have kids that want to play and kids that really enjoy playing together,” said Griffin. “You know you’re going to have an exceptional pitcher on the mound no matter what game is being played. I think that just builds a lot of confidence. They know they don’t have to out-slug teams.
“They know they can go out there and score two, three, four runs a game, and they’re going to be in that game every time.”
Notes:
Former star Scarborough softball player Liz Winslow (1997-2000) threw out the first pitch … The varsity softball game was one of four varsity games being played under the lights at the Scarborough High complex on Tuesday. The baseball team beat South Portland, 6-5; the girls lacrosse team beat Bonny Eagle, 15-9; and the boys tennis team lost to Thornton Academy, 3-2.
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