The Dirigo softball team racked up travel miles and runs Monday, making a long day worth it.
The Cougars left Dixfield for Lisbon to start their road doubleheader with a 1 p.m. matchup with the Greyhounds, which Dirigo won 20-4. There was little time to celebrate the victory, however, as Dirigo had a 5 p.m. matchup with rival Mountain Valley at Central Maine Community College in Auburn. The Cougars were able to regroup, then spoil the Falcons’ senior night with a 13-3 win.
Dirigo, which got contributions from throughout its lineup, needed just five innings in each game to secure the sweep.
“It was fun, but the conditions weren’t the best,” Lana Waite, Dirigo’s starting pitcher for both games, said.
Both games featured heavy downpours.
Dirigo coach Scott Robbins said facing the same style of pitcher in both games helped the Cougars’ offense.
“Coming into (the Mountain Valley) game, we weren’t tired from the game before; I think it helped us because the Lisbon pitcher was very similar to this pitcher,” Robbins said.
Emma Bourgoin pitched for Lisbon (5-10) and Lanee Boucher got the call for Mountain Valley (3-12).
Dirigo (11-4) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning in the nightcap with Mountain Valley when Abby Luczynski, Waite and Aleiah Ward all walked to load the bases. Luczynski beat the throw home on a fielder’s choice for a 1-0 lead. Waite and Ward scored on passed balls.
Brooke Bennett had a one-out double to left in the bottom of the first, and during Brooke Brown’s at-bat with two outs, Bennett stole third and scored on a passed ball.
Bennett’s two-bagger was the only hit Waite gave up in the game.
Waite struck out Brown for her third punchout of the inning.
Nikole Turnbull golfed a ball to right-center for a lead-off triple to start the third and scored on a Keira Reny single.
“It was very low, but I made contact,” Turnbull said.
Hanna Hamner had a single and Alyssa Ellis’s single scored Reny for a 5-1 lead. Layla Merrill then singled to load the bases. Back-to-back walks by Emily Woods and Luczynski extended the lead to 7-1.
“Lanee was struggling a bit gripping the ball,” Mountain Valley coach Gary Dolloff said. “We didn’t get as many strikes as we liked to. There’s a girl who’s battled all year.”
Ward had an inside-the-park grand slam later in the inning to extend the lead to 11-1. The Cougars left the bases loaded after Reny, Hamner and Ellis all walked.
The Falcons got two runs back in the bottom of the fourth, starting when Mallory Bourret walked and Brown got hit by a pitch. They both scored on a passed ball during Ali Mazza’s at-bat. Mazza reached second on an error but got caught stealing third. Waite picked up her ninth strikeout in the game to end the inning.
“I was working on my spins,” said Waite, who finished Game 2 with 12 strikeouts. “That worked for me.”
Waite walked two and hit a batter.
Mountain Valley tried to extend the game in the bottom of the fifth inning when Boucher walked and Mackenzie Gammon pinch-ran for her. Gammon motored her way to third on two passed balls, but the Falcons couldn’t drive her in to extend the game.
“We were aggressive around the bases,” Dolloff said. “We really work hard at that and we got caught at third that one time. You get some and you give some away, but I am happy with the group and they battled all season.”
DIRIGO TAKES OUT LISBON
Earlier in the afternoon, Dirigo trekked to Lisbon to play a makeup game with the Greyhounds. The teams agreed to play five innings as both were playing doubleheaders. Lisbon hosted Madison later in the day.
The Cougars used a big second inning to break a 1-1 deadlock. With the bases loaded with one out, Dirigo took a 5-1 lead when Woods, Luczynski, Waite and Ward each hit RBI singles.
“I said to the girls, hitting can be contagious,” Robbins said. “They put good swings on good pitches and when they do that consistently, good things happen.”
Dirigo tacked on more runs in the inning when Turnbull got hit by a pitch to drive in a run. Reny walked to bring home another run and a run scored on a passed ball later in the inning for an 8-1 lead.
Lisbon scored two runs in the bottom of the second to cut the deficit to 8-3.
Waite had a two-run double in the top of the third, and Turnbull and Reny followed it up with doubles later in the inning for a 12-3 lead. After another run scored, Layla Merrill had an RBI double of her own for a 14-3 lead after three innings.
Aubriana Bright doubled in the bottom of the third for the Greyhounds and Sophie Bowie drove her in with an RBI single.
Ward doubled in the top of the fourth and Turnbull got hit by a pitch with two outs. They both scored later in the inning for a 16-4 lead.
“I got hit by the ball a lot today,” Turnbull said.
Hamner had a two-run double and Merrill notched an RBI single in a four-run fifth to cap the scoring.
Turnbull said the team is glad to sweep the doubleheader.
“It definitely felt good,” Turnball said. “As coach said today: ‘It’s not a doubleheader unless you win both games.'”
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