DIXFIELD – Playing a softball playoff game at noon on a school day would have been weird enough for Dirigo High School. Not that Friday was just an ordinary school day.
Six seniors had to hit and run, knowing their commencement ceremony would kick off at 4 p.m. The faint echo of public address announcements reminded everyone at Marble Park that a baseball playoff was being contested a block away. And even the coach admittedly had an eye on the wristwatch, knowing he needed to get back to his full-time gig as golf course superintendent.
But No. 4 Dirigo stayed detail-oriented enough to wallop No. 12 North Yarmouth Academy, 15-3. Happily for everyone wearing blue and white, that Western Class C quarterfinal verdict went into the books an inning early, thanks to the mercy rule.
The Cougars added another time-consuming activity to their growing list of obligations: Praying for rain.
“I’m not graduating,” said junior catcher Shannon Daley, who went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs, “but I still have to go watch my friends graduate. Then our seniors have Project Graduation, so they would be running to our (next) game without any sleep.”
Dirigo got its wish. Saturday’s scheduled game at Telstar was postponed to Monday at 3 p.m.
Quarterfinal games were held up a day due to Thursday’s deluge, creating a busy Friday afternoon and evening in Cougar Country.
“We’ll be sending everybody on the senior trip with our cell phone numbers,” said Gavin Kane, who coached the game on an extended lunch break from the pro shop at Wilson Lake Country Club in Wilton. “It might not be bad if it rains.”
Dirigo did its best to make an early swap of sun visors for mortarboards, scoring four runs in the first inning and five more in the second. NYA (6-11) stayed alive mostly on the strength of walks, pushing across one run in the third and two in the fifth.
The Cougars cashed in three runs in both the fourth and sixth innings to finish business. Ashley Noyes’ two-run single brought the game to a halt at precisely 2 p.m., giving Michelle Holmquist, Holly Knight and others two hours to cool off and get ready to march.
Katie Hutchinson and Abby Fenstermacher combined for a one-hitter. Hutchinson struck out six but walked seven before departing with one out in the fifth. Fenstermacher retired five of the seven hitters she faced.
“Abby came in and had a calming effect,” Kane said. “She has pitched some big innings for us.”
Fenstermacher also reached base in each of her five plate appearances, finishing 3-for-3 and scoring four runs. Holmquist ripped a pair of RBI singles. Knight and Hutchinson each clubbed a double.
Dirigo cranked out 14 hits, garnering at least one from every member of the starting lineup.
“We’re hitting the ball the best we have all season,” Daley said. “I guess it’s the right time to be doing that.”
Allie Tocci’s leadoff single in the third inning was the lone hit for the Panthers. Georgia Smith nudged home Tocci with a bases-loaded walk.
Comments are no longer available on this story