With temperatures in the 90s and Scarborough putting the pressure on, South Portland American stayed cool Saturday.
Leading, 4-3, entering the final inning at Scarborough, South Portland tacked on two insurance runs, holding on for a 6-3 victory and winning the District 6 Little League Junior Softball championship.
SPA advances to play in the state tournament, which begins Friday in Biddeford.
“It was awesome to get those two runs,” South Portland catcher Katlin Norton said. “I didn’t want them to beat us. I didn’t want to play again (later).”
Scarborough, who had fallen to South Portland earlier in the double-elimination tournament, would have needed two wins for the championship. A tough task considering who was on the mound – South Portland’s Alexis Bogdanovich.
“She is a phenomenal pitcher,” Scarborough coach Steve Eddy said. “She’s awesome – probably one of the best pitchers in the state at this level.”
Bogdanovich performed as such in the championship game, pitching all seven innings with 13 strikeouts and only two walks.
“I’ve caught her since she started pitching, so five or six years,” Norton said. “She does really well under pressure.”
Scarborough was able to get to Bogdanovich in the later innings, but South Portland had already jumped out to an early lead.
With two outs in the bottom of the first inning, Norton singled to center, moved to second on an error and to third following a past ball. Olivia Whitton then singled, driving in Norton for the game’s first run.
Scarborough pitcher Emily Carter got out of a no-out, bases-loaded jam in the second, allowing only one run on a single by Bogdanovich before retiring the next three batters in order.
However, South Portland added two more runs, one in the fifth and one in the sixth to take a 4-1 lead.
“With the pitchers they have and the pitchers we have,” said South Portland coach Walter Swiger, “both teams feel comfortable that if they can jump out to a lead their chances of winning are pretty good.”
Not too comfortable though.
Scarborough battled back for two runs in the bottom of the sixth, when Heather Carrier drove in Shannon Eddy and Jenn Colpitts with a single to center, making the score 4-3.
“We weren’t panicking but you could see the momentum start to swing the other way,” South Portland coach Craig Norton said.
The momentum shift didn’t last long. In the top of the seventh, South Portland’s Danielle Dibiase drove in Tisia Gorham with a single to center and Olivia Locke scored on an error to extend the margin to three runs.
Bogdanovich took care of the rest, striking out the side in the bottom of the seventh.
Its performances like Saturday’s that make Scarborough’s coach Eddy feel South Portland will fair well in the state tournament.
“I think they’re a good team,” he said. “They play very solid. They will represent (Maine) well if they can get out of states.”
South Portland coach Swiger likes his team’s chances as well.
“As long as the pitching holds up and the bats stay together,” he said. “We aren’t strangers to winning state tournaments. Last year we were state champions with the 11- and 12-year olds. We know how to handle the pressure and we know what it takes to win big games.”
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