SKOWHEGAN — Skowhegan softball pitcher Kaitlyn Therriault is one of those people who looks the same whether the score is 2-1 or 10-0. But while you couldn’t tell what Therriault was feeling Thursday afternoon, you could definitely tell she was in a groove.

Facing fifth-seeded Edward Little, Therriault allowed only three hits and didn’t walk a batter. Shelby Obert scored on a sacrifice fly in the third inning, and Skowhegan came away with a 1-0 Eastern A quarterfinal victory.

“The last few weeks, she has been pitching extremely well,” Skowhegan coach Lee Johnson said. “Great command. Mixing things up. Hitting her spots. A coach can’t ask for much more than what I’ve watched from her the last few weeks.”

No. 4 Skowhegan (12-5) will face No. 1 Brewer in a game scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday. Edward Little ends up at 10-7.

Therriault survived serious threats in the fourth and sixth innings, and wound up throwing only 74 pitches. She did not walk a batter, and 55 of her 74 pitchers were for strikes.

Edward Little pitcher Emily Schario was almost as good. When Skowhegan put two on with one out in the second on a double by Andrea Quirion and a single by Morgan Buker, Schario ended the inning by inducing two straight come-backers. Skowhegan scored the next inning on a rally that was extended by a baserunning error and finished with a great defensive play.

With one out, Obert singled up the middle. She then tried a trick play where she would draw a throw to first base and break for second. This time, she got caught in a rundown. After she changed directions a few times, the throw to second hit Obert in the back of the helmet and rolled away, enabling her to race to third.

“I forgot the first baseman was a lefty,” Obert said. “Usually, I do it when there’s a righty, so they swipe and they’re not looking. I run straight towards the glove (in a rundown), so I get in the way of the ball. It didn’t hurt. It just hit my helmet.”

Mikayla Toth followed with a popup well behind third base that tailed toward the fence. Edward Little shortstop Danny Rock made a remarkable catch parallel to the ground while diving away from the plate. Instead of being caught admiring the play like most everyone else at the game, Obert alertly tagged third and scored without a throw.

“As I saw them diving for the ball, I saw (Shelby) tagging up,” Johnson said, “and I said, ‘That’s good baserunning.’ ”

“I was already thinking, when she started running that way, that I was going to go if she caught it,” Obert said.

Rock seemed to be everywhere, as she had six putouts and two assists to account for nearly half of Skowhegan’s 18 offensive outs. But the Red Eddies still needed to score, and they got runners to second and third with two out in the fourth before Therriault got out of the jam with a groundout.

In the sixth, Rock singled with one out, and Kory Norcross reached when Eliza Bedard dropped her fly ball to left field. Bedard immediately recovered on the next play, as she nailed Rock at third on what would have been a soft single to left-center. Therriault again ended the inning with a groundout, and also worked through a leadoff error in the seventh.

“She’s got ice in her veins,” Johnson said.

Skowhegan has faced Brewer twice this season, losing 14-2 in the first meeting and 6-5 in Brewer a little over three weeks ago.

“The kids are playing their best ball of the year right now,” Johnson said.

Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
mdifilippo@centralmaine.com
 

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