A King smashes the Knights

Hannah King K’s 11, hits walk-off homer for Rams in 5-2 win

By DAVE DYER

Staff Writer

KENNEBUNK — One swing of the bat, and the game was over.

Kennebunk pitcher Hannah King had already provided a stellar performance on the mound, but put a cherry on top of her day with a three-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Rams a 5-2 win over Noble on Tuesday.

“I knew I hit it solid, but I didn’t know I hit it that solid,” King said. “To be honest, I thought it was going straight up and was going to come straight down.”

King, a junior, also struck out 11 batters, giving up three hits to the Knights. At the plate, she went 2 for 4, with four RBIs.

The win raises Kennebunk’s win streak to nine this season, as the Rams improved to 11-2 . Kennebunk has not lost a game since May 2, when the they lost 3-2 at McAuley.

And it’s not only King that has produced. In each contest, players have stepped up.

“Between Janelle [Bouchard], Hannah, Carinn [Burns], Kelsey [Livermore] had a big hit in the other game. Rachel [Magalski] had a big hit in the Massabesic game that broke it open,” Kennebunk head coach Jim Lang said. “We’ve been very fortunate, and some of the freshmen and new players have been coming along, they made some great plays today, too. But that was a heck of a softball game today. [Noble] made a whole bunch of plays, their pitcher pitched her guts out. It was a well played game, and we had to battle through the whole thing.”

The game was a pitchers duel in the early going between King and Noble hurler Amber Kelly, as they surrend one hit through the first three innings. Noble took the lead in the fourth, when Justina Shorey plated Nicole Lanoie with an RBI single for a 1-0 score.

Kennebunk answered back in the bottom of the inning, when Carinn Burns plated Rachel Magalski on a sacrifice fly to center, and King plated Janelle Bouchard with an RBI single for the 2-1 lead.

The score remained 2-1 until the top of the seventh, when Noble designated player Deven Goss smacked a timely solo home run to left, tying the game at 2-2, where it remained for the rest of the inning, forcing extra frames.

Kennebunk kicked off the bottom of the eighth with a single on the first pitch by Magalski, which she lined into center field. Bouchard followed by reaching on a fielder’s choice, and both players moved up a base on a passed ball to force runners at second and third with no outs.

Two batters later, King walloped a pitch over the center field wall for the game-clinching homer.

“I just wanted to get it out of the infield,” King said. “The prior at-bat I didn’t do so well. I just wanted to focus, do better and improve.”

King said she was impressed with Noble’s performance. The Knights (8-6) are in line to make the playoffs.

“It was a great game,” King said. “[Goss] crushed that ball. It was a great battle between both teams.”

The Rams can enjoy the win for only 24 hours, as Thornton Academy rolls into town this afternoon. It’s the biggest week of the season for Kennebunk, who also play Scarborough and Biddeford to finish up the regular season. All teams are expected to be in the playoffs.

“We’ve been talking about how this week is the crescendo of our season,” King said. “We’ve been building up to it, trying to end the season with a strong feeling going into the playoffs.”

Sign In: