When the softball season began, Rachel Bernier had four seniors, holes to fill, a season-ending injury to her shortstop and a whole lot of youth and inexperience.

Even after coaching for 20-plus seasons, the Monmouth Academy softball coach wasn’t sure what that might all add up to.

How about a 12-2 record, and a No. 2 seed?

One of those seniors was pitcher Reen Kahl and two others were Angie Bechard and Colby Wilson. Another upperclassman was catcher Daisi Poole. Some of the younger talent included Kylie Kemp and a collection of untested talent that soon proved themselves.

It led to 11 straight wins to start the season and helped the Mustangs finish 12-2 and second in Western C. Though Monmouth lost two of its final three games, one an extra-inning thriller against Spruce Mountain, the Mustangs are now prepping for the postseason and the Mountain Valley Conference championship game. The Mustangs play Madison on Monday at 4 p.m. at St. Dom’s.

“It’s been exciting, yet challenging too, especially with all the year-end stuff
going on,” said Bernier.  “I know this happens every year, but this is when  having a young team can demand more time and preparation.  Young kids have never
experienced this demand of time late in the school year. So having to go to
practice, play games and still get study time for finals can be overwhelming. “

The Mustangs went 11-3 last year and lost a wealth of talent, including returning shortstop Brianna Hicks. Kahl has been a a force for Monmouth while the youth around her has played beyond its years. The road only gets more challenging ahead and Bernier says her team needs to be ready for that. After the MVC game Monday, the Mustangs will host seventh-ranked Sacopee Valley in the quarterfinals.

“I think if I can get them to be relaxed like they were at the beginning of
the season, this will be key to our success throughout the playoffs,” said Bernier, whose team was tuning up Friday with their former rivals from Richmond. “The teams we will face will challenge us at all levels, so we have to capitalize
on any little thing that comes our way. “

Also in Western C, Lisbon (9-5) took the third spot after critical wins down the stretch over Monmouth and Hall-Dale. Dirigo (10-6) took the fourth spot while the defending state champs from Telstar (7-7) finished sixth.

Dirigo will host Hall-Dale, which beat the Cougars in last year’s tourney. Telstar will play at Lisbon, where the Rebels beat the Greyhounds 5-4 in late May.

After a 2-5 start, the Rebels finished the year with five wins in their final seven games.

“We were not projected to be (7-7),” said Telstar coach Jim Lunney, whose team graduated a wealth of seniors and lost starting shortstop Lyndsay Merrill to a knee injury in preseason. “It’s in large part to Jessica (Dirago’s) pitching.  The rest of this young team has also improved, and we are very happy with our current position.”

St. Dom’s (5-11) earned the ninth seed and will play at Wiscasset in a prelim.

In Eastern A, Oxford Hills finished 11-5. They’ll play a quarterfinal at Erksine, a team with which the Vikings split during the regular season. Oxford Hills lost 2-1, but defeated the Eagles 1-0. Mt. Ararat won its last three games to edge out Edward Little for the final playoff spot.

In Western D, the defending regional champs from Richmond (14-1) took the top spot. That was expected, but Rangeley (11-3) earning the second seed was an impressive surprise from the Lakers. Rangeley won 10 of its last 11 games, including wins over Buckfield and Richmond.

“We only lost a couple of girls from last year,” said Rangeley coach Ashley Quimby. “We knew we were good last year. We just missed the playoffs last year. So I think that just gave us more confidence this year.”

Buckfield took the third seed at 10-6, winning its last four games. The Bucks will have to win at Rangeley to earn a return trip to the Western D finals.

In Western B, Leavitt more than doubled its win total from last year and finished 11-5. The Hornets earned the third spot behind the defending regional champs from Fryeburg (15-1) and second-seeded Greely.

Leavitt will host the winner of the prelim between sixth-ranked Spruce Mountain (12-4) and 11th-seeded Poland (9-7).

“We’ve been really successful,” said senior shortstop Tori Zupancic. “Our team’s attitude has been the biggest change to help make us a better, solid team because we’re all really close.”

Gray-New Gloucester (12-4) took the fifth seed with the Phoenix right behind them. Also playing in prelims will be eighth-ranked Mountain Valley (8-7). They’ll host Lake Region. Oak Hill (9-7) finished 10th overall and will play at Cape Elizabeth.

kmills@sunjournal.com

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