Darcy Herrick’s single in the eighth gives the Vikings a 7-6 victory.
SOUTH PARIS – Oxford Hills’ confidence grew with each rally.

After being dominated by Leavitt’s Sam St. Hilaire last season, the Vikings were finally finding success against the standout pitcher in their KVAC matinee. Every time the Vikings fell behind, they felt better about their chance to come back.

“We were hitting the ball,” said Oxford Hills coach Cindy Goddard. “She didn’t strike out a lot. So it wasn’t like she was in total control, and the kids didn’t think I’m going to get struck out.’ We put the ball in play.”

So when Darcy Herrick came up in the bottom of the eighth inning, she had nothing but positive thoughts. She’d already had two infield hits off St. Hilaire and with the winning run at second, Herrick knew she could deliver.

Her hard single to right scored Katie Budjinski from second to give the Vikings a 7-6 victory.

“I was pretty confident,” said Herrick. “I was just trying to get a base hit and advance the runner.”

Budjinski had reached base on an error and moved over on a Janaya Millett sacrifice bunt.

The two-time defending Class A state champs had beaten Oxford Hills (3-1) three times last year, including a 3-0 playoff win. St. Hilaire had not allowed a run and had given up just three hits in the three games and struck out 28.

After two hitless innings Monday, the Vikings started hitting St. Hilaire, who allowed 10 hits and struck out seven. Herrick led the way with three hits while Bailey Holloway and Budjinski each had a pair.

“We only had six hits every single game before this,” said Goddard. “We got more hits today than we have the rest of the games.”

Leavitt (3-1) helped the Vikings’ cause by committing seven errors. Meanwhile, the Vikings, which had five errors, played errorless ball over the final three innings.

“I haven’t looked at the book but there’s enough in my mind,” Leavitt coach Pete Higgins said of his team’s fielding woes. “It wasn’t a well played game on either side. They played better than we did.”

Beth Ellis had four of Leavitt’s hits off Randi Arsenault. St. Hilaire added two hits and three RBIs. It was her three-run double in the fourth that seemingly dealt a crushing blow. Her bases-clearing hit came after an error that could have ended the threat, giving the Hornets a 5-1 lead.

“We got down, and we just picked ourselves up and rallied back,” said Herrick. “We had confidence. We had tried to pick each other up.”

The Vikings came right back in the bottom of the fourth with three runs. A Millett single and an error allowed two runs to score and a fielders’ choice on a Desiree Budjinski bunt brought in Millett, making it 5-4.

Though Leavitt made it 6-4 in the fifth when Alanna Leonard tripled and scored on an error, the Vikings cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning when Holloway scored on an error. Then in the sixth, Oxford Hills tied it when Herrick’s infield hit was thrown away, allowing Jill Cole to score from second.

“We just kept giving them one more chance and they took advantage of it,” said Higgins.

kmills@sunjournal.com

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