AUBURN — Players couldn’t wait to hit the diamond Friday evening.
After Mother Nature threw a wrench to the start of the Babe Ruth softball 10U state tournament on Thursday with rain, Andy Valley and Lisbon kicked off the tournament Friday at Pettengill Park.
“I was very excited,” Lisbon’s Emily Long said.
However, it took a little while for Long and her teammates to get going.
“They were a little bit nervous of a start for them, but they dug deep and pulled it out, and they got momentum as the game went along,” Lisbon coach Chris Bickford said.
Andy Valley, a team based in cities and towns in the Oxford Hills region, was equally excited to get the tournament underway.
“After the cancellation yesterday, they were very excited,” Andy Valley coach Mike O’Leary said. “To come here and play, it’s very exciting. The group of girls, they really love softball; they were pumped to come here.”
Lisbon pulled away to defeat Andy Valley 13-6.
Lisbon took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Nevaeh Fournier scored from third on a passed ball. Andy Valley came back in the bottom of the inning, scoring on two passed balls of its own, with Julia Paradis and Brooklyn Duprey scoring the runs to take a 2-1 lead.
In the top of the second, Lisbon was aggressive on the base paths as it scored three times in the inning to take a 4-2 lead.
“I teach my kids to be very aggressive as runners,” Bickford said. “It’s a big part of the game to be aggressive and aware; that’s how we teach them.”
In the top of the fourth, Lisbon broke the game open with five runs for a 9-2 lead, highlighted by Long’s double that scored Hayden Dubois.
Long isn’t sure how she got the ball out of the infield.
“I really don’t know; I was just amazed,” Long said.
After Andy Valley got a run back in the bottom of the fourth, Lisbon scored four more times in the top of the fifth for a 13-3 lead. Again, Long played a part with an infield single that scored Dubois and Fournier.
Andy Valley battled in its last at-bat in the bottom of the fifth, scoring three runs. Paradis had an infield single, bringing home Avery Swassey.
Lisbon had only a short break before taking on Lewiston right after in the winner’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament. Lisbon won its second game 17-4.
Lisbon only played one doubleheader all season.
“I don’t recall (how we did), but we have only lost one game this year,” Bickford said.
Andy Valley moved down to the loser’s bracket and will play their next game Saturday at 2 p.m. at Auburn Suburban, where the majority of the tournament is taking place.
“I told them we are very young; we are still learning about each other,” O’Leary said. “We only have been together for a couple of weeks and I told them (the tournament) is not over; we need to fight all the way through. We can sneak through the back door, like I told them.”
FRIDAY’S 10U TOURNAMENT SCORES
Lisbon 13, Andy Valley 6
Turner 14, Ararat 3
Auburn 20, Richmond 3
Lisbon 17, Lewiston 4
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