Lily Rawnsley of Greely rounds third and scores during Tuesday’s game at Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham. Eli Canfield/The Times Record
TOPSHAM- Despite staying hot on offense as they’ve now scored 21 runs in their past two games, the Eagles were unable to respond to a late Greely rally in a softball game on Tuesday afternoon at Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham.
Behind a 10 strikeout performance by freshman pitcher Lily Rawnsley, the Rangers gave her more than enough run support in route to a 14-6 victory.
“I just wanted to throw strikes and hit my spots, I knew my teammates would take care of the rest behind me,” said Rawnsley, who earned the win on Tuesday. “We just wanted to keep our momentum up from the last game, and we did a good job of it.”
The Rangers were coming off a doubleheader sweep over Yarmouth last week, in which they scored a combined 39 runs in the two wins.
For the Eagles’ the bats continued to stay strong but the Rangers offense was too much for pitcher Megan Reed, who was dealt the loss despite striking out eight.
Despite the loss, Mt. Ararat captain and shortstop Jaden Lohr was sure to stay positive.
Megan Reed of Mt. Ararat winds up during Tuesday’s game against greely at Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham. Eli Canfield/The Times Record
“I think we played really well today, the seventh inning has always been an issue for us,” said Lohr, who smacked her first career home run in the loss. “That was awesome, I just wish that it changed the outcome.”
The Rangers scored five runs in the top of the seventh to blow the game open.
Just a couple hours before Tuesday’s game, the Eagles’ learned they’d be without varsity head coach Terri Tlumac, who is out for the next 10 days due to COVID-19 safety protocols. In her place stepped Jim Field, who serves as the junior varsity coach/assistant varsity coach, and will coach the varsity team in Tlumac’s absence.
For Field, it was a busy couple of hours once he got the call he’d be in charge.
“At first it was a little shocking, but I knew we’d just go out there and play like we normally do,” said Field. “It was a bit different, but I’m always up for a new experience.”
While Field was the acting head coach, much of the team huddled around Lohr in between innings.
Emily Woodworm of Mt. Ararat trots to third after blasting a two-run home run during Tuesday’s game against Greely at home. Eli Canfield/The Times Record
“I just wanted to get them going and be a leader,” she said. “Coach (Tlumac) tries to get us excited and hyped up, so I was just trying to do that without her here.”
Both offense’s struck early and often. After the Rangers tallied three in the top of the first, the Eagles responded on a two-run shot to center off the bat of catcher Emily Wormwood.
After a back and forth couple of innings that saw the Eagles take a 5-4 lead into the fifth, Greely changed their approach and got runners on base. The change resulted in three runs in the inning, with two coming from a Haley Stewart bloop single that broke the 5-5 tie.
“We were swinging at bad pitches early on, we changed our approach and let the ball come to us,” said Rawnsley, who went 2 for 5 with two doubles and an RBI at the dish. “When you face a good pitcher, that’s the best way to produce the results.”
Greely piled on the runs in the final two innings, highlighted by a Maia Wright home run to right field that all but sealed the game.
“We know we’re a good team, we just have to put everything together,” said Lohr. “We’ll be alright, we just have to make sure we don’t lose any confidence heading into the later part of the season.”
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