OAKLAND — Messalonskee has made a habit of winning its softball games with late-inning rallies this season. On Monday afternoon, it was junior Phoebe Pelletier’s chance to come through with the big hit.
“It’s scary, but it gives you adrenaline at the same time,” Pelletier said. “You can’t just swing away. You’ve got to be focused enough so that you can get a solid hit, so it’s intense.”
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In the seventh inning of a tie game, with two on and one out, Pelletier swung at the first pitch, but got a great result. She delivered a single to center field that scored Courtney Veilleux with the winning run, as Messalonskee defeated Skowhegan, 4-3, in a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A game.
Messalonskee, the defending Eastern A champion, improved to 5-0. In four of those victories, the Eagles scored the winning run in their last at bat.
“I can’t take this too much longer,” Messalonskee coach Leo Bouchard said. “I am going to develop an ulcer.”
Skowhegan, which falls to 2-3, didn’t fold after Messalonskee scored three runs in the bottom of the first. Leadoff batter Nikki Collier hit the first pitch over the left-center field fence for a 1-0 lead, and the Eagles tacked on two more runs on two singles, an error, and two pitches that got through to the backstop with a runner on third.
Skowhegan pitcher Amanda Johnson never had a 1-2-3 inning, but pitched out of trouble again and again. In the third, Veilleux singled and stole second and third, but Johnson fielded a grounder and caught Veilleux off third with a diving tag. In the fifth, Skowhegan third baseman Shelby Obert made a leaping catch of a looper near the foul line to choke off another Messalonskee threat.
Messalonskee pitcher Kassi Michaud (six hits allowed, nine strikeouts) was also throwing well, and the Indians couldn’t get a big inning against her. In the third, Skowhegan scored when Anna Lorette singled home Johnson with two out, cutting Messalonskee’s lead to 3-1.
The Indians got another run in the fifth, when Mikayla Toth walked and came home on Johnson’s double to deep center field. Johnson went to third on a wild pitch and tried to score on a grounder, but was cut down at the plate on a pitcher-to-first-to-home double play. That became even bigger when Lorette led off the next inning by crushing a 1-0 pitch well over the center field fence for a game-tying home run.
That meant the Eagles had another chance to win in their last at-bat. With one out, Veilleux beat out a bunt single, and Necole Harrison reached on a dropped fly ball. Pelletier then sent a grounder up the middle that barely eluded Skowhegan second baseman Mikayla Fitzmaurice, and Veilleux scored easily.
“We don’t give up,” Bouchard said. “They don’t hang their heads. They don’t point their fingers at other kids.”
The Indians have tinkered with their defensive lineup, and gave up three unearned runs against Messalonskee. Skowhegan has another tough game at home today against Bangor (4-1).
“I think there’s no question we’ve figured some things out,” Skowhegan coach Lee Johnson said. “It’s just a matter of fine-tuning it, and continuing to battle. We’ve just got to find ways to clean it up and score more runs than the other team.”
Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
mdifilippo@centralmaine.com
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