TURNER – Two near-miss losses gave the Edward Little softball team something positive this week, but neither could compare to the boost generated from the Red Eddies first win of the year Friday.

EL scored two runs in the first inning and rode an outstanding pitching performance by Alyssa Levesque for a 2-0 victory over Leavitt.

“I think it’s really going to bring up our spirits because last year we were 4-12,” said Levesque. “It’s good to get a win, but we could have done a lot better, but we can start on this.”

The Red Eddies lost to Morse 3-1 and Lewiston 5-4 earlier in the week. EL is still a fairly young squad but improving daily, and nothing is better reinforcement than a win.

“It’s a huge confidence builder, especially with Cony and Brunswick next week,” said EL coach Elaine Keene. “Hopefully, with the hits we had and the power they had in their at bats, that will continue and the confidence level will keep increasing.”

Levesque, a junior, allowed just three hits, including an infield single and a bunt hit. She struck out six and walked just one.

“She’s not getting rattled, and that has to do with being thrown into the fire as a freshman and going through last year” said Keene, whose sister Nicole has been working diligently with Levesque. “She’s really confident in herself, and she’s confident with the people behind her.”

Levesque escaped a pair of threats to preserve the shutout. She struck out back-to-back batters in the fourth with two runners in scoring position. She also struck out another in the sixth to end a threat and strand two more.

“I’m just really lucky that I have my change-up down,” said Levesque. “I always find a way out of it. I always try to forget about the runners on base. I try to put myself in the zone, and I forget about everyone else.”

Heidi Swett had two of Leavitt’s three hits. Paige Dyer had the other.

“We were just out in front of her all day,” said Leavitt coach Pete Higgins. “She was changing speeds just enough. Sometimes she didn’t have to. Our kids were just anxious to hit the ball.”

A bad first inning proved costly for the Hornets. EL took advantage of an error, a bunt hit, two wild pitches and a dropped third strike to take the 2-0 lead.

“I’m glad it happened because we didn’t get any other runs,” said freshman shortstop Emily Grund. “I think if we didn’t score, we would have had enough push to get more.”

With one out, Grund reached on an error. Alice Read followed with a bunt hit. Both advanced on wild pitches. Grund scored on another wild pitch, and Read raced home on a dropped third strike.

“We were able to take advantage of it,” said Grund. “We have good baserunners, fast, quick and smart baserunners. I’m glad we took advantage of that.”

Megan Hussar and Kim Lawrence each had two hits for EL (1-2), but the Red Eddies stranded nine runners the rest of the way.

Leavitt (1-2) couldn’t rally. The Hornets had runners on second and third with one out in the fourth. Brittany Nelson reached on an error and Dyer had a bunt hit. Then in the sixth, Swett doubled and Dyer reached on an error, but Levesque escaped that jam as well. Dyer pitched a solid game for the Hornets while Dominique Herman had a pair of nice catches in left field.

“Defensively, we were okay,” said Higgins. “We had a couple of lapses, especially in that first inning. The kids are coming around, and we’ll get there.”