TURNER — Junior first baseman Sam DeBlois had a pretty good idea where the ball was heading after it left her bat in the fourth inning. 

She saw her mighty rip easily clear the left-center field fence for a three-run homer that highlighted a five-run outburst as No. 7 Leavitt rolled to a 12-2 win over 10th-ranked Greely in a Class B South softball preliminary game Tuesday afternoon. 

The Hornets’ (12-5) postseason tour continues when they travel to No. 2 Gardiner (14-2) on Thursday at 4 p.m. 

Leavitt outfielder Maddy Dutil started the five-run rally in the fourth inning after she smacked a double. Lily Chabot singled and she and Dutil came home on DeBlois’ three-run blast. It DeBlois’ fourth home run of the season.

“…Right off the bat, I felt it,” DeBlois said. “Basically, I was just telling the people in front of me to go. We actually, today, pulled together really well. We had a couple of games where morale hasn’t been fully there, but we all pulled together for playoffs and hopefully we can carry through.”

The Hornets picked up two more runs in the fourth when Nola Boutaugh and Kylee Spugnardi scored thanks to RBIs from Haley Turcotte and Sam Withee. Leavitt was now in command with a 9-2 lead heading into the fifth inning. 

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Leavitt coach Kevin Leonard said the Hornets got off to a slow start on offense, but more than made up for it with timely hitting and solid pitching.

“I told the kids to be more patient (at the plate),” Leonard said. “Back off and make the pitcher work, and they listened, but they did a good job at the plate. They were patient, they were focused and made some good plays with hits when they needed it.”

In the bottom of the fifth, Logan Arsenault singled and moved to second when pinch hitter Hailey Cyr grounded out to second base. Arsenault eventually scored when Chabot got with an error. After Chabot got on with an error, DeBlois walked and both scored on Boutaugh’s two-run single and the Hornets were able to stretch their lead to 12-2 and shorten the game to five innings after the 10-run rule was implemented. 

The Rangers (6-11) scored first in the first inning when Maia Wright drove in a run. The Hornets answered in the bottom half when Boutaugh ripped a one-run double to score Chabot. 

The Hornets scored their second run in the second inning after Withee got on with an error and came home on Dutil’s RBI single.  

After Greely tied it in the top of the third inning, Leavitt got two more runs in the bottom half of the frame to take a 4-2 lead. DeBlois got on with a double and scored on an error. Boutaugh tripled and came home on Abby Albert’s flyout to center field.

“I don’t know if we showed up to play today,” Greely coach Danielle Simoneau said. “We weren’t ourselves. I am really proud of them staying up and positive the whole game. They gave a great effort and I can’t ask for anything more than that.”

Albert went four innings for the victory inside the circle. Turcotte came on in relief to pitch the fifth to close down the Rangers.

For the day, the Hornets had 13 hits, with Boutaugh and DeBlois credited with three RBIs each.

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