“They only lost to Skowhegan 8-2,” Derosby said. “I got on the bus this morning after yesterday’s practice and I hoped we were refocused.”

Her Red Eddies certainly were. EL’s bats came to life in an 18-0 win over Lewiston in KVAC softball. This was after EL managed just one run and four hits in the season-opening loss to Messalonskee.

“To come back emotionally and refocus on what we needed them to do from now to game 16, I’m so proud of everything they did today,” said Derosby.

EL scored three in the first inning and then erupted for 10 in the second. That included seven hits and five Lewiston errors.

“They started hitting and jumped on top of it right away,” Lewiston coach Erica Crowley said. “There’s nothing you can do. They were hard hit to the gaps. They had Michelle (Malia)’s number right off the bat, and we tried to throw Erica (Brochu) in there. By two innings, the damage had been done.”

Danny Rock led the 15-hit attack for EL (1-1). She had four hits, scored four runs and drove in five. Sarah Hammond and Brooke Reynolds each added three hits. Kory Norcross drove in a pair while Reynolds, Emily Schario and Danica Nadeau also plated runs.

“It felt really good, especially four our newcomers and our sophomores that haven’t been on varsity before,” said Rock, who also made an outstanding diving catch at short. “They just felt relaxed. They felt like if we have these models showing us, we can do it and they started getting their bats going.”

EL pitcher Molly Murray got the win. She pitched a two-hitter and did well getting out of a couple of Lewiston threats, after a couple walks and hit batters. She finished with five strike outs. Cleo Miller and Malia had the only hits for Lewiston.

“Molly is our hardest thrower, but she’s our most inexperienced,” Derosby said. “So we’re going to be looking to her for a lot of things. Last year, her first varsity game didn’t go so well. I’m glad she got this under her belt, and I’m glad she was able to refocus.”

EL got three runs in the first inning when Rock doubled in a run. Nadeau followed with an RBI single. Then a Schario fielder’s choice plated Norcross.

In the second, EL blew it wide open. Reynolds scored on an error. Then Rock delivered a grand slam to make it 8-0. Later in the inning, Reynold singled with the bases loaded. The ball was misplayed in the outfield, allowing three more runs to score for a 12-0 lead. Murray also scored on an error as EL sent 15 batters to the plate.

In the first game of the season, the top four hitters for EL combined to go 3-for-11. Friday,  that group scored nine runs, had nine hits and drove in seven.

“We’ve been scrambling around with our order a lot,” Rock said. “We had power hitters playing next to each other. We had to have some bunts mixed in with the power hits. That’s what we did today. We got the job done with everything.”

EL added five more runs in the fourth. Rock tripled in a run and scored on a Norcross fielder’s choice. Reynolds singled in a run and two others came in on a wild pitch and passed ball. Norcross doubled in the final run in the fifth.

“It just ended up snowballing and getting away from the girls,” said Crowley. “It’s in the past now. We have a younger team with a lot of new varsity kids out there. We just hope to get better.”

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