TURNER — Adrie Newton wanted a good hit. The kind of hit that ignites the team and ends the game with a walk-off finality. The kind of memorable wallop that produces a win, celebration and hugs all around.

Then she got the sign from her coach. It was a bit of a four-letter word to her — bunt.

So instead of ripping the line drive of her dreams to some gap in the outfield, the senior pitcher gently put the ball on the ground in front of home plate and ran like the dickens.

“I was kind of nervous,” said Newton. “I was like, ‘Oh great, I have to bunt.’ I really wanted to get a good hit. But I have confidence in my coach, and I bunted before and was safe. So if he thought so, it worked in the end.”

Newton beat out the bunt as Oak Hill bobbled the ball and the delayed squeeze play allowed Sara Pare to score the winning run Wednesday. It capped off a crazy seventh inning and a 7-6 Hornet win.

Leavitt (10-4) entered the seventh seemingly comfortable with a 4-0 lead before the Raiders (8-7) rallied for six runs in the top of the inning. The Hornets mustered a comeback of their own in bottom of the frame for the win.

“It was really nerve-wracking,” said senior shortstop Tori Zupancic. “I knew we’d pull it together and hopefully make some good plays.”

Zupancic led Leavitt with three hits and helped sparked the seventh-inning rally with a lead-off single.

“It’s a lot of pressure,” said Zupancic. “I was hoping for the best. That’s really all you can do.”

Emily Perkins, Pare and Annie Castonguay each had two hits and all played a key role in the rally. After Zupancic led off with a single, Perkins had a bunt hit. Then Pare singled in a run. Castonguay followed with an RBI single, setting the stage for Newton.

“We just told them to keep their heads up and keep their attitude up,” said Leavitt coach Pete Higgins. “We just needed base runners. We couldn’t try to win it with one swing.”

Newton’s bunt was scooped up. After looking Pare back to third, the throw went to first. The ball was bobbled there, and Pare scampered home with the winning run.

“There were some mental mistakes there, situational things,” said Oak Hill coach Allyson Collins. “I think nerves just got the best of them.  (Leavitt) put down some good bunts  and had some good plays. They have some quick runners and took every base they could. We were just back on our heels a little bit.”

Kayla Veilleux had three hits for Oak Hill while Brianna Hodgkins and Kortni Michaud each had two hits.

Down 4-0 entering the final inning, the Raiders took advantage of a weary and unfocused Leavitt club. Oak Hill produced six runs on five hits to take a 6-4 lead.

“Oak Hill is a good team, but we also just lost our focus and once that snowball starts rolling, it hard to stop it,” said Higgins. “They got some base hits. They earned their runs pretty much.”

Veilleux started the inning with a single. After a Sadie Goulet walk, Hodgkins delivered her second double of the game. Marrissa Caskin and Brooke LeBel drove in runs,  and Caskin scored on an error to tie it 4-4. Then Michaud doubled in a run, and Veilleux had an RBI single for the 6-4 lead.

“I was just trying to keep my composure and not get frustrated,” said Newton, who had allowed just five hits prior to the seventh. We weren’t making errors. My team was doing really good. They were just getting real good hits.”

Newton had escaped Oak Hill threat in the fifth and sixth. She had struck out batters to end the innings both times and got outstanding play behind the plate from Castonguay, who threw out a runner trying to steal in the sixth and also caught a foul tip on a third strike to end the inning.

Leavitt took the early lead when Pare singled in Zupancic in the first.  Sierra Santomango scored on a fielder’s choice in the second. Michaud held Leavitt to just one hit over four innings, but Leavitt  still added two more in the sixth. Castonguay slid under a tag at the plate on a Michelle Morin fielder’s choice. A Shelby St. Pierre sacrifice fly made it 4-0.

“Each of their four runs could have been avoided,” said Collins. “They were all mistakes. We made errors that cost us big.”

kmills@sunjournal.com

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