MADISON — Pitcher Emily McKenney has allowed a total of five runs in six games.

Madison, meanwhile, is scoring over 13 runs per game.

Not surprisingly, the Bulldogs are undefeated. They posted their sixth straight win, beating Dirigo, 12-0, in a Mountain Valley Conference softball game Wednesday afternoon.

“If we continue to hit the ball the way that we’ve hit the first six games, and score the runs that we’ve scored, that’s important,” Madison coach Chris LeBlanc said. “Once we get five or six ourselves, I feel pretty confident that it’s going to be a win.”

The game was shortened to six innings by the 12-run rule, and Dirigo (2-2) did not get a runner past first base. McKenney allowed two hits and a walk while striking out 12. Two of those three baserunners were caught trying to steal second by catcher Aly LeBlanc.

One of Madison’s biggest challenges Wednesday was a roadblock the Bulldogs set up for themselves. In the first inning, McKenney struck out the side, and Kayla Bess walked, stole second and third, and scored on a wild pitch. Then things got a little odd in the bottom of the second.

Advertisement

Madison’s batting order for the inning was supposed to go Savanna Kandiko, Cristie Vicneire, Erin Whalen, and Alex Jarvais. Instead, it went Vicneire, Vicneire, Jarvais, and Whalen.

Vicneire led off with a walk, but Dirigo coach Sara Thurston pointed out that Kandiko was supposed to be batting, so Kandiko was ruled out and Vicneire batted again. She doubled, and Jarvais followed with another double. A few pitches later, Thurston pointed out Whalen should have been batting instead of Jarvais.

If all this sounds confusing, it was. With no announcement, few of the fans understood what was going on, and they weren’t alone.

“We don’t really know how that happened, actually,” McKenney said. “Coach just said, ‘It’s done. It won’t happen again’ because he’s going to double-check and triple-check. It was definitely a mistake, and we just kind of laughed about it.”

“That was definitely a coach’s error,” Coach LeBlanc said. “We wanted to mix it up a little bit, and when the scorekeeper came, he said, ‘Is everything the same?’ I said, ‘Yup!’ So it’s all me. It had nothing to do with the kids. They did what they were told. But I can guarantee it won’t happen again.”

The rest of the game was relatively uneventful. The Bulldogs led 4-0 after three innings, and tacked on six runs in the fourth. The game ended in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by Hilary McKenney. Kandiko, Vicneire, and Whalen each had two hits on the day.

“I think our team chemistry is really helping us,” Emily McKenney said. “We have a lot of younger girls, like Kayla Bess is a sophomore playing shortstop, Madeline (Wood) is a freshman playing second base, and Erin Whalen is a (sophomore) playing left field. So we definitely have young kids in new positions that they don’t usually play, but I think our team chemistry on and off the field is definitely helping us a lot.”

Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243 | mdifilippo@centralmaine.com | Twitter: @Matt_DiFilippo


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.