Hall-Dale players celebrate as Zoe Soule comes to the dugout after scoring to give the Bulldogs the lead in their 2-1 win over Bucksport in the Class C softball state championship game on Tuesday in Gorham. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
GORHAM — Hall-Dale High pushed its winning to streak to 56 games and won its third straight Class C softball state championship, beating Bucksport 2-1 on Tuesday afternoon at the University of Southern Maine.
The Bulldogs (20-0) were outhit 8-5, but Bucksport stranded nine baserunners. Jade Graham hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Zoe Soule in the bottom of the sixth inning to give Hall-Dale the win.
“I think that’s the hardest game I’ve ever played in high school,” Soule, a junior and Hall-Dale’s catcher said. “They fought us. … We watched them on tape, and we knew they were pretty good, but we didn’t know they were this good. Hats off to them.”
Rita Benoit struck out seven batters and walked one in a complete-game effort for Hall-Dale. Mira Skehan added two hits.
Ella Hosford fanned nine and walked one for Bucksport (19-1), the top seed in Class C North.
Hall-Dale took the lead in the second when Graham, after sliding under the tag at third to escape a rundown, scored on Skehan’s RBI double down the left-field line.
Bucksport tied it with three straight hits in the top of the third and could have taken the lead if not or an obstruction call that prevented Hosford from scoring. Benoit stranded two runners to end the inning. She repeated that feat again in the fourth and the fifth.
“They put a lot of runners on base,” said Hall-Dale Coach Steve Acedo. “They’re fast, they have good pitchers, and they play good defense. We had a lot of times where we had to battle our way out, and I think it was our experience that helped us in those situations.”
In the sixth inning, Soule singled and moved to third on a sacrifice by Ashlynn Donahue before scoring on Graham’s sac bunt.
“I love to put it down that third-baseline, especially because it gives me more time to get to first as a left-handed hitter, and Zoe knows that,” Donahue said. “At the beginning of that inning, they told me, ‘If Zoe gets on, you’re bunting.’ I was ready to bunt and put it down that line, and she started running.”
CLASS C BASEBALL
Monmouth Academy players celebrate after they beat Bucksport, 3-0, to win the Class C baseball state championship on Tuesday at Ed Flaherty Field in Gorham. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
MONMOUTH 3, BUCKSPORT 0: Junior Sam Calder pitched a shutout as the Mustangs (19-1) beat the Bucks (13-7) at Ed Flaherty Field in Gorham to win their first Class C state title.
Monmouth also played for the Class C title in 2021. The Mustangs won the Class D title in 2001.
Calder allowed four hits and struck out six. His older brother Manny Calder was 2 for 3 with a two-run single in the third inning.
Bucksport, which won the Class C title last season, had runners on in four of the seven innings, but could not cash in.
CLASSS D BASEBALL
ST. DOMINIC 4, BANGOR CHRISTIAN 1: The Saints (14-5) took a 2-0 lead in the second inning and won their second straight state title, beating the Patriots (16-2) at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor.
The Saints took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI bunt single by Ethan Pelletier, who scored on a passed ball. Ashton Hammond doubled to lead off the third inning and later scored to give St. Dominic a three-run lead.
–Mike Mandell of the Kennebec Journal contributed to this report
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