SANFORD — Two of the best pitchers in Class A South softball were facing off, so of course, Friday’s game between Gorham and Kennebunk/Sanford turned into a battle of offense.
And, of course, the deciding hit came from the last spot in the lineup.
Paige Williams hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the bottom of the fifth, Julia Pike struck out 12 in seven workmanlike innings, and Kennebunk/Sanford beat Gorham and Amber Bretton, 7-6, at Sanford High School.
“This game was big. We knew we had eyes watching us, we had a lot of people from other teams watching us,” said Pike, who allowed six hits and three walks. “We worked as a team and we did it all together.”
The expected pitchers’ duel between Pike and Bretton (seven strikeouts, five hits, four walks) didn’t materialize, as both Gorham (1-2) and Kennebunk/Sanford (2-0) staged one rally after another. Gorham went up 3-0 in the second inning, and Kennebunk took leads of 4-3 and 6-4 in the third and fourth, only for Gorham to pull even both times.
In the bottom of the fifth, Hannah Mueller reached on an error, stole second and advanced to third when Skylar Holder grounded to second for the second out. That brought up Williams, the No. 9 hitter and a freshman, who was 0 for 2, including a strikeout in the second.
The Kennebunk/Sanford team calls Williams “Smiles.” Her spirits were high as she came to the plate.
“Obviously, I was a little down (earlier). But the support from my teammates really helped,” Williams said. “I was really focusing on trying my best. … My main goal was to hit it strong, hit it hard, and that’s what I did.”
Williams lined an 0-2 pitch to right, allowing Mueller to score easily. Williams then made a nice catch on Sophia DiPhilippo’s deep fly ball that looked like trouble off the bat en route to a 1-2-3 sixth, and Pike pitched around a leadoff walk in the seventh to preserve the win, getting one of the outs herself on a diving catch of Kyleah Mack’s bunt attempt.
“I went into this game knowing they could hit,” Pike said. “It can be difficult to shake off (runs), but now going on, I need to be able to shake that. I need to be able to let go, and have the mind of a goldfish and be ready for the next play.”
Kennebunk/Sanford Coach Eddie Pike was impressed with his team’s tenacity.
“We continued to grind and get deep in counts,” he said. “I was really happy with what the girls did. I think everyone contributed in this one.”
Gorham took a 3-0 lead in the second, only for Kennebunk/Sanford to pull ahead with two in both the second and third.
Luci Dubail, Gorham’s No. 9 hitter, tied the game at 4-4 with an RBI single. Run-scoring singles by Pike and Kota Stone put Kennebunk/Sanford back in front, but Gorham came right back when Bretton tripled in Mack and scored on a passed ball.
Gorham Coach Phil McGouldrick praised his team’s resilience, but said sloppy play – five errors – prevented the Rams from pulling out the win.
“We made way too many mistakes,” he said. “We gave them too many free bases. We’ve got to clean things up. We hit the ball well, Amber did a good job on the mound, we’ve just got to clean things up defensively.”
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