Scarborough 2

Windham 0

In a game that lasted just about an hour, the Scarborough softball team dispatched Windham with two runs in the sixth inning on Thursday.

The 2-0 win moved the Red Storm into to the semi-finals where victories continued with a 5-1 win over Deering on Saturday.

For the Eagles, the loss ends an 8-8 season that saw them earn the eighth seed.

“The season was up and down,” said Windham coach Bob Blanchard. “We expected to come in with a better record. It’s all about the playoffs; you have to beat the best. As long as we made the playoffs that was one of our goals. We would have liked a higher seed but there are dangerous teams from one through 11. We are on their caliber I believe.”

Things moved along very quickly as both pitchers were in top form early on. Scarborough’s Kelsey Griffin allowed just two hits and struck out five to earn win number 12. Windham’s Ally Noble scattered seven hits and struck out four. The game’s first hit didn’t come until the fourth inning when Windham’s Amanda Evans singled. Scarborough’s first hit also came in the fourth when Kira Gordon bunted for a hit. Both were left stranded.

“It’s tournament play, anything can happen,” said Scarborough coach Tom Griffin. “It’s usually very tight games and very rarely do you see teams not come to play. (Windham) played a good game against Portland and they played us tight (Thursday).”

The Eagles had their best shot in the sixth. With one out in the inning, Caitlin O’Brien popped up near first base. There was some confusion over who would catch the ball and it dropped, allowing O’Brien to move to second. The next batter, Ashley Corkum, got an infield single to put runners on the corners with still just one out. Kelsey Griffin got Amanda Evans to pop out to Meaghan Myers behind the plate for the second out. With Noble at the plate, Corkum took second without a throw. But Noble struck out to end the inning.

“The key was getting the last two outs in the sixth,” said Griffin. “That turned us around. We knew we had a good chance with the heart of our lineup coming up. We thought we could generate some runs. The key was holding them that inning and knowing we didn’t need to score a run. We could relax and I think that helped.”

It did help, because Kelsey Griffin led off the bottom half of the inning with a single. Brianna Mancuso came in as a courtesy runner and she was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Gordon. Myers was the next batter and she worked the count full before hitting a liner to left field that dropped for a double. Catie Funk singled to give the Red Storm another runner. Two batters later with two outs, Sarah Bonenfant singled to score Myers.

“(Noble) wasn’t overpowering but she did a nice job throwing strikes,” Griffin said. “We just had to be a little patient. The girls thought she was throwing harder than she was. We were too aggressive. They weren’t really patient and seeing the ball. When we came up the third time around the kids started taking pitches and not chasing pitches. And we finally got some bounces. We were hitting the ball right at people. We knew as long as we kept making swings we would find some holes and we did.”

Kelsey Griffin then retired the Eagles in order in the top of the seventh to end the game. Despite the fact that they came up short, Blanchard knows his team was good enough to compete with Scarborough.

“(Noble) gave up only a few hits,” he said. “They scored on a couple of bad bounces that’s all. It was a slow hit and a line drive that dropped in. What can you do? We cranked up the pitching machine and that helped. We turned it up to (Griffin’s) speed, 59 miles per hour, and I think it helped. But I’d like to play them again.”

The Red Storm went on to defeat Deering on Saturday in the semi-finals, 5-1. Griffin allowed eight hits, but only surrendered the one run.

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