Softball: Two big innings lift Edward Little past Brewer

AUBURN — The top of Edward Little’s order sparked two big innings, giving the Red Eddies in a 10-5 softball win over Brewer on Friday.

Edward Little’s Amanda Raymond catches the ball at second base for an out to end the inning during Friday’s game in Auburn. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Leadoff hitter Tiana Avila had two hits, two runs batted in and two runs. Leah Thibodeau, the No. 2 hitter, reached base three times, once on a double, drove in a run and scored three runs.

“Against Bangor (a 4-3 loss on Wednesday), it was the bottom of the order,” Edward Little coach Elaine Derosby said. “It’s good for (Avila and Thibodeau) to build some confidence. The other day, they weren’t as successful. If we can start to put (everything) together, good things will happen.”

The Red Eddies (1-1) struck in the bottom of the first. Avila and Thibodeau opened with back-to-back walks. Amanda Raymond, the third hitter, dropped a sacrifice bunt, but an errant Brewer throw to first base allowed Avila to score from second and Thibodeau to reach third.

A bases-loaded walk to Erin Cowie brought Thibodeau home, and then Izzy Jalbert’s infield single scored Raymond, giving the Red Eddies a 3-0 lead after one inning.

“(The first inning) set the pace, and we were all on our toes — everything started to (go) from there,” Thibodeau said.

Brewer coach Skip Estes lifted starter Morgan Downs after seven batters. She walked four and only recorded one out. Lauren Stewart came in relief and set down five straight batters.

“I had to bring my No. 2 in — she pitched very well,” Estes said. “(Stewart is) a different style of pitcher, and it did throw (Edward Little) off for a little while. I brought in my starter back in again (for the bottom of the seventh inning), just to experiment. We weren’t in the game pretty much the whole day.”

Downs struck out three hitters in the seventh.

Stewart got in trouble in the bottom of the third, and a Julia Bilodeau single to left field scored two runs and extended Edward Little’s lead to 5-0.

Brewer (0-2) stormed back in the top of the fourth, plating four runs. Josie Pece’s single to left field scored Hannah Reed and Jordin Williams to cut the deficit to 5-2. Hannah Snowdeal was inserted as a pinch runner for Pece after Pece advanced to second when Jaiden Williams reached base an error.

“They were baffled for the first inning or two, and I was hoping they at least starting the ball, which my hitters did,” Estes said.

Later in the inning, Snowdeal scored from third when CJ Atherton grounded out to third. Confusion in the Edward Little infield allowed Williams to also score.

“The second run snuck in, that was very good base running, and not many teams will do that to sneak that runner in,” Derosby said. “We talked about that a lot in the preseason, getting secondary plays, and that’s one of the plays we will continue on is that secondary play. What happens after the out and we got caught not paying attention to that (today).”

The Red Eddies got a run back in the bottom of the fourth when Thibodeau moved from second to third on a passed ball and then scored on another passed ball for a 6-4 lead.

Edward Little’s Madisyn Scott pitches during Friday’s game against Brewer in Auburn. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

The margin remained two runs until Edward Little pulled away with their second big inning, a four-run bottom of the fifth.

Avila drove in two of those runs, pushing the the lead to 8-4.

“It’s a nice feeling, being up one and then getting ahead like that,” Avila said. “We had confidence in each other to be able to make that happen and be able to work together on defense and offense.”

Avila scored on a Thibodeau double, and Raymond singled home Thibodeau for a 10-4 lead.

“Once we got those runs and had that (fifth) inning, we just felt confident in our defense that we just needed to finish (the game up),” Thibodeau said.

Brewer added a run in the seventh when Hannah Reed singled home Jordan Doak.

Edward Little starter Maddy Scott pitched all seven innings, allowing five runs and three hits and striking out seven.

“She does her thing, and we go on her ride, on the adventure she takes us,” Derosby said. “When she settles in, she settles in. When she gets a little too excited, some things (can go awry). After those couple of (defensive errors), she really settled in and threw pitches she needed to throw.”