Both Waterville and Mt. Blue finished 0-16 last season. Both have already made sure the same thing won’t happen this spring.

Waterville defeated Mt. View, 4-2, on Friday, while Mt. Blue picked up a 12-8 victory over Mt. Ararat the same day.

“It was good for the girls to taste victory at this point,” Waterville coach Matt Madore said. “We were close to victories early last year. We just hadn’t been able to take that final step.”

Madore said the Purple Panthers beat Mt. View despite missing two starters. He said there were a lot of popouts and flyouts from the Waterville offense, and he thinks the Panthers are on their way to improving in that area.

“We’ve worked the last couple days, really driving the ball,” Madore said. “I think the bats will come alive with base hits instead of popups.”

While the Nokomis-Waterville baseball game was played Tuesday, the softball teams had to wait because Waterville’s field was still wet. That game will be this afternoon, meaning the Panthers have games Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week, as well as Monday and Tuesday to start next week. Madore said he plans to have senior Ally Forkey pitch all five games.

“We’ll go with her,” he said. “She’ll be fine.”

Madore said he is getting some kind of contribution on the field from everyone on the roster. The Purple Panthers probably got a little confidence in preseason, when they posted wins over Class A schools Hampden, Lawrence, and Mt. Blue.

“It’s a fun group of girls to coach,” Madore said. “They’re all stepping up to the plate in different ways.”

* * *

Mt. Blue’s win was also important for the players. New coach Paul Rodrigue said the Cougars junior varsity team was 1-15 last year for a combined JV-varsity record of 1-31.

“Especially the juniors and seniors, they were elated with the win,” Rodrigue said. “It felt good to get one under our belt. We’re looking to use that as a springboard to the rest of the season.”

Mt. Blue returned only four players from last year’s varsity team, so young players are filling a lot of the positions. In beating Mt. Ararat, the Cougars started freshmen at first base, second, and shortstop. They also started two sophomores in the outfield and another at third base.

“They’re being jammed with a lot of information,” Rodrigue said. “It’s a cram session, to say the least. But they’re absorbing well. Our goal was to be one percent better every day, and I think we’re doing that.”

* * *

Skowhegan coach Lee Johnson said during preseason he and his assistants were trying to figure out what defensive lineup would work best in the long run. Three games into the season, Skowhegan is 2-1, but nothing is completely settled yet.

“It’s still a work in progress at this point,” Johnson said. “We know one (lineup) I think that will work for us, but we’re still looking at others. The kids have been very responsive, and they’ve handled it quite well.”

In the circle, senior Amanda Johnson has started two games, and sophomore Kaitlyn Therriault started the other one.

“They’re both pretty similar,” Coach Johnson said. “We have to consider what our defense looks like, depending on who we have on the mound.”

The players seem to hit well no matter where they play in the field. Through three games, Skowhegan has scored 33 runs on 44 hits.

“We’re swinging the bats quite well for the most part,” Johnson said. “It’s just figuring out, defensively, what makes us best.”

Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com

 

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