BIDDEFORD — Down three runs to the defending Class A South champions with one inning to go, the Kennebunk softball team knew it was in trouble.
The Rams didn’t, however, think they were finished.
“We just wanted to fight back,” freshman first baseman Skylar Holder said. “We knew we had it in us.”
Kennebunk proved it, scoring five runs in the top of the seventh to stun undefeated Biddeford 6-3 in a matchup of the top two teams in Class A South.
“We all had really good confidence,” freshman center fielder Talia Kellum said. “None of us gave up. We were all up in the dugout, cheering each other on. It was just a really great inning.”
Kennebunk (8-1) had been held in check by the Tigers (8-1) for six innings, with Biddeford pitcher Charlotte Donovan (12 strikeouts) dicing her way through the lineup. But in the seventh, with the Tigers looking to close out a 3-1 win, the Rams came alive – with freshmen leading the charge.
One of those freshmen, Melody Rouselle, singled to right to lead off. Holder then dropped a fly ball down the right-field line that evaded a sliding Kerri Scott for a double, bringing Kennebunk within a run. An error on Katie Orendorf’s ground ball brought in Holder, and the game was tied.
“We don’t settle,” Holder said. “The rest of the team kicked it in and followed along, and we just lit a fire.”
After a strikeout and popout had Biddeford on the verge of escaping the trouble without trailing, Kellum kept the rally going. She smacked a line drive into the right-field gap for a double, scoring Orendorf, another freshman, for a 4-3 lead. Kellum eventually scored on another error, and Juliann Pike came in on a single by Maddie Pike to end the surge.
“It was a stressful at-bat with two outs, but I was feeling pretty confident,” Kellum said. “Just take a deep breath and make a connection. That’s really all you need in that kind of a situation.”
Biddeford didn’t go quietly.
Laura Perreault (3 for 4) hit her second double of the game with two outs, and Rams Coach Eddie Pike intentionally walked catcher Chantelle Bouchard. That brought up Baylor Wilkinson, herself a dangerous hitter who homered in both the A South and Class A finals, but Juliann Pike (nine strikeouts) got her to fly out to center to end the game.
“We’ve been talking about having to work through adversity,” Eddie Pike said. “I think the girls really responded. … It was a total team effort.”
Biddeford went up 1-0 in the first when Perreault singled and scored on a wild pitch, and then added two more in the fifth when Perreault doubled, Bouchard tripled and Wilkinson singled.
Kennebunk scored its first run in the sixth on a groundout by Maddie Pike. The Rams, though, were far from done.
“I think we learn from this,” Biddeford Coach Mike Fecteau said. “Today, pressure situation, we didn’t make the plays. I think this is going to help us down the road.”
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