BUCKFIELD – Kasey Farrington knew better.

Through six innings, the Buckfield pitcher had thrown to just two more batters than the possible minimum, and she hadn’t allowed a hit.

But she wasn’t sure. So she asked.

“My teammates told me not to ask, that I might jinx it,” Farrington said. “I knew I shouldn’t, but I was curious.”

The first batter in the top of the seventh – Rangeley third-baseman Krista Jamison – lined a double to left-center on Farrington’s second pitch.

It was still the only hit of the game for the Lakers, though, as the Bucks picked up four runs over four separate innings to advance to the Western Maine Class D regional final with a 4-0 win over Rangeley on Friday.

“She’s tough,” Rangeley coach Tom Philbrick said. “We hit her pretty good the last two times we faced her, but didn’t score a lot of runs. This time, she shut us down today.”

Farrington, the daughter of Buckfield coach Ken Farrington, is a junior, but has pitched a full season for the first time this year.

“She pitched well today, and she didn’t have to throw a lot of pitches,” Ken Farrington said.

Kasey Farrington’s location wasn’t always excellent, but the velocity with which she hurled the ball tempted many of the Rangeley hitters to swing anyway. She fanned 13 Lakers on the afternoon.

“The first game we played them, they were hitting off me pretty well,” Kasey Farrington said. “That made me pretty nervous about (Friday). I did all I could to move the ball around the plate and make them swing at everything.”

Behind her, the Bucks’ defense did almost everything in its power to allow her the chance at a no-hitter. Positionally, Buckfield stole at least two potential base hits from the Lakers.

On offense, the Bucks got a little bit here, a little bit there, thanks in large part to the base running of senior leadoff hitter Danielle Labbe. In three plate appearances, Labbe walked twice and grounded into a fielder’s choice. But on each occasion, the shortish third-baseman scampered all the way around the bases and scored.

“I try to get on base as much as possible, and once I’m there it’s all about trying to score,” Labbe said.

In the first, Labbe walked, stole second, moved to third on a bunt and scored on a single by Lindsey Neal. In the third, she walked, moved to second on another walk, skittered to third on a wild pitch and made it home on a ground ball back to the pitcher.

After Alyssa Henderson scored on an Amy Reuter ground out in the third, Labbe again made it on base, this time on a fielder’s choice. She made it to second on a passed ball, stole third and again trotted home a ground ball back to the pitcher.

Angela White took the loss for Rangeley after allowing those four runs on three hits, eight walks and an error.

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