WALES – The scoreboard showed that Oak Hill experienced the heartburn of a six-run softball defeat Monday afternoon.

What the digital display didn’t convey was the heartbreak that the Raiders essentially were six feet away from a shutout win and season-making upset.

Beth Fisher’s misplayed fly ball sailed just over the charging center fielder’s head, becoming a leadoff triple in the seventh inning. Fisher scored Winslow’s first and tying run on a subsequent throwing error, and the Black Raiders rolled up a half-dozen in the eighth on their way to a 7-1 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference victory.

Oak Hill pitcher Lauren Hall coaxed three consecutive groundouts after Fisher’s rope to the power alley, indicating that even a single likely wouldn’t have triggered enough damage to prolong the game.

“We knew that a team like that would starting coming around on it. We had to be prepared, and where we weren’t creating a lot of offense ourselves, we had to play the defense,” said Oak Hill coach Julie Boucher. “Sometimes in a situation like that you forget the basics and just kind of get caught up in the moment.”

Hall also struck out leadoff hitter Jordyn Pomerleau in the eighth before Marisa Weed’s sharp single to right. Oak Hill (5-5) bobbled Julie Riordan’s ensuing sacrifice bunt attempt for its fourth error of the day.

Lynsey Vigue’s floater dropped into fair territory down the right-field line to load the bases. Weed dashed home with the game-winning run on Lindsay Gordon’s slow roller along the first-base side, beating the throw on the fielder’s choice.

Fisher and Kristen Loubier followed with consecutive two-run singles to put it away for Winslow (10-1).

“We have six freshmen and four sophomores,” said Winslow coach Steve Blood. “We have two seniors, second base (Gordon) and shortstop (Fisher), and the shortstop was the one who hit the ball to get us back in the game.”

Even younger, Oak Hill played brilliantly through the regulation innings without its lone senior, catcher Becca Roberts, who is out with a wrist injury.

Winslow’s Riordan matched her fellow sophomore Hall zero for zero until the bottom of the sixth. Abby Goulet’s two-out double to score Taylor Fillion with an unearned run represented Oak Hill’s only hit of the game.

“That was a well-placed ball. Abby did a good job hitting that, and nobody could have gotten to it. But when that’s the only hit of the game, you can’t do too much with that,” Boucher said. “Lauren’s always consistent. For a sophomore, she’s pretty darn mature. We knew we needed to get the offense going to support her, and that didn’t happen.”

Riordan pitched around Oak Hill’s best remaining hitter, Hall, walking her four times. The left-hander mixed her sneaky fastball and pedestrian change-up nicely to keep the Raiders guessing. She struck out 10.

Fisher (3-for-4) notched Winslow’s only base knock through the first five innings, launching a line drive in the fourth that eluded Hall’s diving stab and trickled into center field. Gordon, who previously reached on an error, advanced to third with one out.

Loubier bounced out to Hall, whose lengthy stare at third base delayed Gordon’s break for home. Sarah Albert’s throw from first base and Fillion’s tag beat Gordon by a whisker to complete the double play and preserve the scoreless tie.

Hall fanned four and didn’t issue a walk.

“We hit the ball hard during the game, but right at people. We just weren’t putting it in the right spots,” said Blood, whose program has won three of the last five Eastern Class B titles.

Being in a battle with such an established power will help Oak Hill long-term, but it didn’t feel like much of a consolation prize at Monday’s bitter end.

“It’s a confidence thing. When you go against a team like this and you don’t score or it’s a tie game or you’re ahead by one, the pressure’s on,” Boucher said. “With good teams you’ve got to play your best game, because they’re going to start to capitalize on the small things.”