PARIS — It wasn’t the matchup most teams would like to open a season.

The Oxford Hills softball team faced the defending Eastern A champions from Skowhegan Wednesday, and the Indians showed they hadn’t missed a beat since last spring.

Skowhegan broken open a 1-1 tie with seven runs in the third and never looked back in a decisive 21-2 win over the Vikings at Oxford Hills High School. The game was shortened to five innings because of the 12-run rule.

The Indians lost four players from last year, including three starters, but showed plenty of experience to open the season in convincing fashion. Skowhegan was the fourth seed last spring and eventually lost in the state game to Scarborough.

“I wasn’t sure how it was going to go,” said Skowhegan coach Lee Johnson, whose team plays at Edward Little Friday. “We basically had one real practice on the field. We had some scrimmages but practice time outside has been limited.”

Oxford Hills coach Cindy Goddard was unavailable for comment.

Skowhegan pitcher  Katilyn Therriault scattered five hits and struck out five.Conditions were chilly, with a stiff wind blowing in from behind the plate.

“It was a tough day for pitchers all the way around,” Johnson said. “A lot of the spin stuff was probably very difficult to control because of the wind. I think both pitchers had to find a way to fight through the conditions.”

Therriault also led a potent offensive attack that finished with 24 hits. She had five hits and drove in six runs, while Andrea Quirion had three hits and drove in five runs. Mikayla Toth had four hits, scored three runs and drove in one. The Indians finished with four home runs.

The Vikings got two hits and an RBI from Anna Winslow. Anna Piirainen reached base three times, had one hit and scored a run. Annika Kahkonen and Madison LeBlond also had hits for the Vikings.

Skowhegan took a 1-0 lead in the first. Starter Crystal West nearly escaped the threat, but Therriault delivered a two-out single to plate Toth.

Oxford Hills tied it in the bottom of the inning but could have had more. The Vikings loaded the bases but only got one run.

Piirainen was hit by a pitch and Kahkonen followed with a single. Cody Akers moved them along with a sacrifice bunt. Then a Winslow pop in the infield was pushed by the wind and dropped. Piirainen came around to score when the Indians first tried to get a runner off second and then threw home. She slid beneath the tag.

After a walk to Taylor Johnson to load the bases, Therriault escaped the inning with a strikeout and flyout to first.

“I was anxious at first,” Therriault said. “You couldn’t throw the spins because of the wind. You were throwing right into it, but I just did the best I could.”

After a quick and harmless second inning, the Indians broke the game open in the third.

Quirion hit a three-run homer, which probably should have been contained in the outfield. Morgan Buker followed with a two run shot that went across the entry road to the high school. One run scored on a wild pitch and Emma Fitzgerald singled in another to make it 8-1.

That inning deflated Oxford Hills, which showed its inexperience in the field on numerous occassions. The Vikings were plagued by mental errors in the field and failed to make some routine plays that could have helped the cause. Meanwhile, the Indians fed off the success and setttled in.

“We got a lot of energy after that,” Therriault said. “We got really excited.”

Oxford Hills got one back when Winslow had a hit get past the Skowhegan outfield for a solo homer to make it 8-2.

“I think it came down to who had the big inning to take control of the game,” Johnson said. “Once we got the lead, the big thing was that we kept them down, sort of, that next inning. They got the one run, but that was it.”

The Indians added three more in the fourth. Therriault had a two-run homer and Fitzgerald singled in a run.

Then came a disastrous fifth inning in which the Indians had 11 hits. Quirion and Therriault each had a pair of RBI singles in the inning. Toth and Tara Bedard also singled in runs. Mattea Powers had a two-run homer and another scored on a wild pitch.

 West got the loss for the Vikings, allowing 11 runs and 13 hits. Erika Whitman came on in the fifth and allowed 10 runs on 11 hits.

kmills@sunjournal.com

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