WATERBORO — The Massabesic softball team made a statement Friday afternoon. And the Mustangs made it in a hurry.
Ella Barden and Candice Daigle belted back-to-back first inning home runs, Emily Antrim dominated in the circle, and the Mustangs continued to make their case as Class A contenders with a 7-1 victory over Scarborough.
Massabesic is now 6-2 after going 7-9 a year ago. The Mustangs dealt Kennebunk its only loss so far, and now they own a win over the perennially powerful Red Storm (7-3).
“Before we went into this game, we did a little pregame thing in the locker room and Coach (Kevin Tutt) told us it’s mostly mental with this game,” said Daigle. “If you put your mind to things, you can do anything. So that was my motive of the game, and I think everyone on the team took that as a motive, too.”
The Mustangs were ready to go from the first pitch. After Antrim struck out the side, Ella Donovan (2 for 4, RBI) led off with an infield single, and Barden followed by driving a 1-0 pitch over the left-field wall for a 2-0 lead.
“It was massive. That felt great,” said Barden, who added a double in the fifth. “I cranked it. … I thought (it was gone), but I wasn’t sure. I am infamously known as ‘Warning Track Power,’ so I am not used to hitting them over.”
The lead grew as Daigle turned on the next pitch and sent it to almost the same spot Barden did for a 3-0 advantage, just eight pitches in.
“I don’t usually get those high pitches,” she said. “I didn’t think it was going over, it just blew away, I guess.”
The Massabesic dugout erupted at the fast start, which Tutt said reflected his team’s sense of urgency.
“One hundred percent,” he said. “They came out, they had a mindset, they came to the plate with an approach and they went at it.”
Massabesic added a run in the third when Daigle singled and scored on an error, then got three more in the sixth. But the first-inning outburst was all the offense Antrim needed. The senior was superb, striking out 13 and allowing only three Scarborough hits. The one run she surrendered, which came in the sixth on an RBI single by Angelina Pizzella, was unearned.
“I had a really good warmup, and right from that moment, I just thought ‘This is going to be a really good game,'” Antrim said. “I’m glad (we) were able to get on top and we were able to score first. It just gave me a little more comfort.”
“Emily’s come a long way with trusting her pitches,” Tutt said. “Barden and her as a batterymate have been tremendous. We go into the games with a mindset, there are four or five kids in every lineup that we attack.”
Red Storm Coach Tom Griffin said the game could be beneficial for his team, and sophomore pitcher Meghan Robinson in particular.
“This is a good experience for my pitcher. I think she battled her way through that,” he said. “It’s a good learning experience for her. … They’re a good team, and that’s a good pitcher. This league is just filled with good pitching.”
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