NEWPORT — Since moving to Class B for the 2009-10 school year, Nokomis had never been able to defeat Winslow on the softball field. On Wednesday, the Warriors played like a team that dearly wanted to cross that item off their to-do list.

While Winslow played its usual strong game and shortstop Allison LeClair was the defensive star of the day, Nokomis was solid in every area. The Warriors banged out 11 hits, ran the bases aggressively, and sophomore pitcher Sara Packard threw a four-hitter to to lift Nokomis to a 4-1 victory.

“It’s just a good win,” Packard said. “They’re a good team, and we’re going to get some points from them.”

Nokomis (3-0) set the tone in the bottom of the first inning. The Warriors didn’t score a run, but their four batters saw only five pitches combined. With coach J.D. McLellan urging his batters to be aggressive, Nokomis used that kind of approach all afternoon, striking out only three times and getting some hard hits.

“He doesn’t like us to sit back and watch,” said Nokomis second baseman Megan Perry, who went 3 for 3 and made a nice catch of a line drive. “He wants us to get out there and hit it, and get around the bases.”

The Warriors took the lead for good in the bottom of the second on singles by Courtney Carlson (3 for 3) and Becky Orcutt. In the third, Lacey Kent-Webber led off with a single, and moved to second on a groundout. With two out and the count 2-2 on Perry, Kent-Webber stole third as Perry took ball three.

The high-risk move paid off as Perry grounded the next pitch through the left side for an RBI single and a 3-0 Nokomis lead.

Nokomis made it 4-0 in the fourth when Taylor Lovley singled home Drew Graves, and Winslow stayed within reach by getting out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the fifth. With one out, Graves smoked a grounder in the hole on the left side, but LeClair, who was in on the grass, backhanded the ball and got a forceout at the plate.

Packard was able to survive without the extra runs because she had four of her five pitches working. She struck out five and retired 15 of 16 batters at one point. Winslow (3-1) gave her one of those outs in the fifth when pinch hitter Gabby Languet beat out a bunt single, but was ruled out because she hadn’t officially entered the game as a substitute.

The Black Raiders rallied in the sixth, as No. 9 batter Mariah Chenard led off with a single and Jessica Pare doubled to deep left field. But with the 2-3-4 hitters coming out, Packard got out of the inning on a sacrifice fly, a popout, and a strikeout.

“I think there’s worse things in the world than losing to a really good team, especially early in the season,” Winslow coach Beth Fisher said. “We made three major mistakes today, but those mistakes are just going to help us in the long run, because we’re going to learn from them and keep building.”
 
Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
mdifilippo@centralmaine.com

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