TURNER — It was nearly a great escape.

With Gardiner threatening in the first inning Wednesday, the Leavitt softball team came close to eluding a bad first inning. With only one run allowed, the Hornets were on the brink of salvaging things when it all went wrong.

Instead, the Tigers scored five in the first inning and barely looked back in a 10-3 win.

“I was very thankful to see that,” said Gardiner coach Ginger Shaw. “Our goal was to jump out to an early lead. I was hoping to do that, and we pulled through.”

Leavitt (0-3) had played its first two games without a full lineup. The Hornets missed as many as five players last week and had one game in which they started four freshmen and two sophomores. Coach Pete Higgins had all but two players back Wednesday, but the Hornets were far from a seasoned team.

“There’s definitely a lack of cohesiveness,” said Higgins. “We’ll work on it tomorrow and try to come back on Friday.”

Though the Hornets got within 5-2 early in the game, Leavitt couldn’t overcome mistakes in the field. The Hornets had six errors and were plagued by dropped balls and poor decisions in the field.

“You can’t give the other team that many opportunities that we’re not getting,” said Higgins. “It’s not like they beat us bad with their bats. It was just mental errors and those things shouldn’t have happened.”

Leavitt did get a pair of fine catches from Emily Perkins in center while pitcher Michelle Morin scattered seven hits. Perkins also had a pair of hits while Melissa Richardson drove in a pair.

Gardiner pitcher Brittany Rollins allowed seven hits and struck out eight.

“We weren’t sure how she’d react in the warmer temperatures, all of 55 or 60 degrees,” said Shaw. “She responded very well and was hitting some spots.”

Gardiner (3-0) threatened in the first and loaded the bases when the first three batters reached on a hit, walk and error. Kristal Smith singled in a run. Then Morin was able to catch a line drive and summon up a ground out to Sierra Santomango. With the threat nearly ended, Rollins hit a single on the ground that snuck under an infield glove and scored two. Steph Plourde followed with a two-run single of her own.

Leavitt tried to battle back. Sarah Pare doubled in a run in the first. Then Richards scored when she tried to steal and came around on the subsequent error in the second.

“There’s plenty of scrap, but we’re not making good choices right at the moment,” said Higgins. “If we change that, I think we’ll be OK.”

Gardiner opened up the lead again with four in the fourth, taking advantage of three Leavitt miscues. Smith had a sacrifice fly, and Lilly Chapke plated a run with a single. In the fifth, Bri Brochu drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.

“One thing we’re trying to work on this year is to have no rollercoasters,” said Shaw. “We trying to stay consistent the whole game.”

Leavitt got its final run in the fifth when Morgan Knowlton scored on a wild pitch.

[email protected]