BREWER—North Yarmouth Academy’s softball team hoped to make its presence felt when it returned to varsity play this spring.

But no one envisioned this.

A first-ever state championship.

Tuesday afternoon at Coffin Field, the Panthers wrote the final triumphant chapter in an improbable story, beating Machias in the Class D Final.

NYA, less than a week removed from its first regional title, dug an early 1-0 hole when the Bulldogs pushed across a run in the bottom of the first inning, but with junior ace Lily Rawnsley holding Machias in check from there, the Panthers went ahead to stay in the third, scoring four times, on a pair of errors, along with RBI singles from junior second baseman Hayden Wienckowski and freshman catcher Cami Casserly.

NYA made it 5-1 in the fourth, on an RBI triple from Wienckowski, but in the top of the fifth, a quick burst of rain rendered the field unplayable for over an hour-and-a-half.

Play finally resumed and the Panthers added a run in the fifth on an RBI single from senior third baseman Michala Wallace, then scored once more in the sixth on a Wienckowski sacrifice fly.

Rawnsley then slammed the door in the seventh, ending the game by inducing a ground out and NYA prevailed, 7-1.

The Panthers finished the season 18-1, ended Machias’ fine season at 13-4 and for the first time, have a shiny piece of hardware for their trophy case.

“This is sweet,” said NYA coach Ricky Doyon. “I knew we had athletes, but athletes only take you so far. This is what these kids are about. They know what it takes to win, maybe not in softball, but they get up for the big games.”

Storybook

The Panthers didn’t have a stand-alone program from 2012-19 (and in fact had a limited history even before that). After returning in 2021, NYA went 9-9 and reached the Class D South semifinals, losing to St. Dom’s. Last spring, however, the Panthers couldn’t field a varsity team. This season, Doyon had to bring nine players over from his championship soccer team to ensure a campaign and it was clear from the get-go that NYA would be a force.

The Panthers ripped the cover off the ball throughout, scoring 113 runs while winning 15 of 16 regular season games, 12 of them by the 10-run mercy rule. That potent offense, combined with the arm of Rawnsley, who came over from Greely, allowed NYA to finish first in Class D South.

“When we started 10-run ruling everyone, we were like, ‘Wow, we’re really good,'” Wienckowski said.

After earning a bye into the semifinals, the Panthers handled No. 5 Richmond (14-3, in five-innings), then, rallied to edge No. 2 Searsport, 2-1, in the regional final last Wednesday in Standish.

Machias went 10-3 in the regular season, then, as the No. 5 seed in Class D North, knocked off No. 4 Woodland (13-0) in the quarterfinals and upset top-ranked Hodgdon (16-0) in the semifinals before beating No. 2 Penobscot Valley (9-4) in the regional final.

The contest was originally scheduled to be played Saturday, but poor weather moved it to Tuesday, where more bad weather caused a delay, but ultimately, nothing could stop NYA’s date with destiny.

The Panthers threatened against Bulldogs senior ace Jaida Case in the top of the first, but left the bases loaded.

Wallace popped out to short leading off, but junior centerfielder Kailyn McIntyre reached on an infield single, Rawnsley did the same, then freshman shortstop Jordan Nash reached on an error. Case escaped the jam, however, getting Wienckowski to ground to third, where senior Chloe Savage threw home for a force out, then Casserly grounded into a short-to-third force out to end the threat.

In the bottom half, Case helped herself with a leadoff triple. Sophomore shortstop Maleah Rhodes struck out swinging, but junior second baseman Skyler Tinker produced the run with an RBI infield single. Rawnsley limited the damage by fanning senior first baseman Jaydin Anderson and getting senior catcher Maggie Allen to pop back to the mound.

NYA couldn’t respond in the top of the second, as sophomore first baseman Sadie Morgan lined out to second, senior rightfielder Anna Belleau struck out swinging and after junior leftfielder Elizabeth Madden singled to center, Wallace popped out to short for the third out.

In the bottom half, Rawnsley fanned sophomore leftfielder Cassandra Dahl, caught sophomore rightfielder Lauren Wood looking at strike three, then, after junior centerfielder Emma Worcerster singled to right, Savage struck out swinging.

The Panthers then got their bats going in the top of the third and scored four times, with a little help.

McIntyre got the fun started by drawing a walk. Rawnsley then hit the ball to left and reached on an error, which scored McIntyre and sent Rawnsley all the way to third. Nash lined out to short, but Wienckowski put NYA ahead to stay with an RBI single to left to score sophomore courtesy runner Toree St. Hilaire. Wienckowski then stole second and went to third when the throw got away and Casserly made Machias pay with an RBI single to right. After Morgan reached on an error, moving Casserly to second, Belleau struck out, but Madden reached on an error (the third of the inning) and that plated Casserly. Wallace lined out back to the mound, but NYA was up, 4-1.

“Early in the game, when you go down, you have to realize you have plenty of time to battle back and we did,” said Wienckowski.

“I knew after our rally the other night, we could get it done,” said Rawnsley. “We loaded the bases in the first inning, so I knew we’d get baserunners.”

In the bottom half, Rawnsley preserved the lead. Case grounded out to second leading off, but after Rhodes reached second on an error, Tinker singled to right. Belleau fired the ball in to Nash, who threw home to Casserly to nail the runner. Tinker moved to second, but Anderson grounded out to second to end the threat.

The Panthers added a fifth run in the fourth, coming with two outs.

McIntyre ground out to third leading off, then Rawnsley popped out to short, but Nash tripled to center and Wienckowski followed with an RBI triple of her own.

“I just made contact with the ball,” said Wienckowski.

“Hayden can hit the ball and she’s great in the field,” Doyon said. “She came on to the team at the 11th hour and we’re glad she did.”

Casserly grounded out to short to end the uprising.

Rawnsley had to work out of trouble again in the bottom half.

Allen led off with a single to center and after Dahl bounced out to second, with Allen taking second, Wood singled to right and for the second straight inning, the Bulldogs had a runner thrown out at home, this time Allen, with Wood moving to second, where she’d be stranded when Worcester grounded out to second.

Morgan led off the top of the fifth with a fly out to center, then Belleau tried to bunt her way on, but was thrown out by Savage at third. Madden then drew a walk and the game came to a halt when the skies opened.

It would be an hour and 34 minutes before play could finally resume.

In the meantime, NYA made the most of the delay.

“It was stressful, but I made sure to stay focused,” Rawnsley said. “We knew the game would (restart), so it was just a matter of time.”

“We mostly stayed together as a team in the dugout,” Wienckowski said. “That helped keep us focused and ready to roll.”

“I’m not surprised we had a rain delay the way it’s been going,” Doyon added. “We just talked and had them run for a little bit. When we knew we were getting close, we dialed in.”

The Panthers then picked right up where they left off, as Wallace singled to center to score Madden to make it 6-1. McIntyre then popped out to third for the third out.

In the bottom half, Rawnsley set Machias down in order, fanning Savage, getting Case to ground out to second and Rhodes to line out to third.

NYA continued to add to its lead in the top of the sixth.

Rawnsley led off with a double. Sophomore Brooklyn Goodman came on to run and she moved to third when Nash grounded out to short, then Wienckowski flew out to right to deliver the run. Casserly grounded out to short to keep the score 7-1.

Rawnsley had another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom half, getting Tinker to bounce out to short, Anderson to ground out to first and Allen to ground out to short.

The Panthers couldn’t score in the top of the seventh, despite a leadoff walk to Morgan, as Belleau struck out, Madden grounded back to the mound, which led to a force out at second, then Wallace flew out to left.

That set the stage for Rawnsley to slam the door in the bottom half.

First, Dahl grounded out to short. Wood then bounced back to the mound.

That left it up to Worcester, who also grounded back to Rawnsley, who, at 5:57 p.m., threw on to first to bring the curtain down on NYA’s history-making 7-1 victory.

“I was just thinking not to overthrow it,” Rawnsley said. “I’m very glad I didn’t. It felt great. It’s such a dream come true. It’s crazy. I thought with our team that it was possible, but I didn’t know if we could get there. It’s a dream come true.”

“We’ve never seen Machias before, so we went in blind, but in the end, it was like the majority of games we played before,” Wienckowski said.

“I’m just lucky,” Doyon added. “It’s a great bunch of young ladies. True athletes. When they want it, they go get it. For not being club players, they do fundamental stuff which puts us in a great situation. We knew (Machias) could hit the ball. We adjusted with certain pitches on certain players and we took it from there. I thought we’d definitely make much more contact (than against Searsport), but I suspected they would as well.”

Rawnsley excelled, allowing just one earned run on six hits in a complete game effort. She didn’t walk a batter and struck out six.

“I was a little nervous at the start, but I’m glad my team helped me through it,” Rawnsley said. “I’ve been in pressure situations before.”

“They have a good hitting team, but Lily did a great job keeping them off balance,” Doyon said. “She has nerves of steel. Nothing bothers her.”

Offensively, Wienckowski had two hits, three RBI and scored a run.

Rawnsley also had two hits.

Casserly, Goodman, Madden, McIntyre, Nash and St. Hilaire also scored runs.

Casserly and Wallace added RBI.

NYA left nine runners on base.

Machias got two hits and an RBI from Tinker. Case scored the run.

The Bulldogs stranded four baserunners.

Case took the loss, giving up seven runs (four earned) on nine hits. She walked three and fanned three.

Back for more

NYA graduates Belleau and Wallace, but returns everyone else in 2024 and after capturing a title, there will be plenty of excitement around the program, hopefully making for a more robust roster.

Next spring, everyone will be gunning for the Panthers, but they’ll be up for the challenge.

“We just have to keep practicing and keep getting players,” said Rawnsley. “We’re all athletes. I hope we can do it again.”

“This is quite a statement and hopefully we’ll bring in some new players next year,” Wienckowsi said. “If we do, we have a good shot at it next year too.”

“We have another year with Lily, so we’ll keep building more and take it from there,” Doyon added. “We’ll see what we can put together.”

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net.

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