LEWISTON – Leavitt wasn’t just the avenger Tuesday but very well could have been the spoiler.

After losing an earlier game to Lewiston, the Hornets made amends in their second try. Not only did they achieve payback with a 5-3 victory but may have ended Lewiston’s playoff hopes in the process.

Lewiston beat Leavitt 8-2 earlier in the year, utilizing a six-run second inning.

“It was a hard loss the first time,” said Leavitt pitcher Brittany Gurney. “We really wanted it this time.

With the regular season winding down and final playoff positions in contention, both teams needed Heal Points.

Lewiston (7-9) craved the win just to make the playoffs while the Hornets hoped to solidify their standing. Leavitt (8-8) was ranked 10th in the latest Eastern A standings.

“It all depends on what everybody else does,” said Leavitt coach Pete Higgins. “We were 10th, which was surprising, but I don’t know whether we’ll move up or not. I’m really not sure.”

The Hornets are likely to play a preliminary game on the road. Lewiston, which was ranked 14th, needed to move up to earn a berth. Only the top 13 make the postseason in Eastern A.

“We needed this game,” said Tony Labbe, Lewiston’s assistant coach. “We won’t be sure where we stand until tomorrow. We were 14th coming into this game.”

Leavitt broke open a 2-2 game with a run in the sixth and two more in the seventh.

The Hornets snapped the tie in the sixth when Jen Knowles reached on an error, moved to third on a sacrifice by Paige Dyer and scored on a wild pitch. Leavitt added two more in the seventh when Caroline Bochtler singled in Megan Miller and Heidi Swett.

Swett led the Hornets with three hits while Dyer had a pair.

“We play good in spurts, and the spurt happened to be seven innings today,” said Higgins.

Lewiston got one run back in the seventh when Maria Labbe walked with two outs and Danielle Willey tripled her in.

Willey finished with two of the Blue Devils five hits and two RBIs. Lewiston left eight runners on base.

“We had big hits too late in the game,” said Labbe.

Leavitt took a 1-0 lead in the first when Swett scored on an error with two outs. Lewiston tied the game but stranded three. Robyn Kennedy scored on a Willey single, but Gurney got a strikeout to escape the threat with the bases full. After that, Lewiston managed just three hits over the next six innings. Gurney struck out six and got fine defensive plays in the field from catcher Liz Sabine, third baseman Aime Chiasson and Dyer at first.

“I relaxed more, and I had confidence in my pitching and in my team,” said Gurney.

In the fifth, Leavitt made it 2-1 when Swett singled and scored on a three-base error. Labbe answered with a two-out single in the bottom of the inning to score Erica Morin.

“The first two errors, we rebounded from them and came back in the same inning and played good ball,” said Missy Jipson, Lewiston’s assistant coach.

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