You won’t get much scouting in softball state championship games. As Madison prepares to face Calais and Skowhegan gets ready to face Thornton, all four teams are mostly going on newspaper reports and word of mouth.
“It appears that they’re a powerhouse, from what I gather,” Madison coach Chris LeBlanc said about Calais. “We were able to watch a little bit of a video — I don’t know where it came from. But I need to be there physically, see how they warm up, see how they throw the ball, see how they get off the bus.”
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Madison (18-1) faces Calais (19-0) in the Class C final, which will be played at 12:30 p.m., Saturday at St. Joseph’s College in Standish. The Class A game between Skowhegan (15-4) and Thornton (16-3) follows at 4 p.m., at St. Joe’s.
Calais won the Class C girls basketball title in March, and star point guard Madison McVicar is now star catcher Madison McVicar. Olivia Smith is the ace pitcher for the Blue Devils.
“She’s been in double digits (in strikeouts) most of the season,” Calais coach Greg Smith said.
Six of the nine Calais starters were seniors this year, and first baseman Paige Gillespie, shortstop Kaylee Johnson, second baseman Jordan Hatch, third baseman Jasmine Ross, and outfielder Kait Cundiff fill out a solid lineup. The Blue Devils averaged 13.9 runs per game in the regular season and are averaging 8.7 in the playoffs.
Madison counters with pitcher Emily McKenney. Including the Mountain Valley Conference championship game, McKenney has allowed one run in 27 postseason innings. The Bulldogs also have good hitters up and down the lineup: Center fielder Kirsten Wood, shortstop Kayla Bess, McKenney, catcher Aly LeBlanc, first baseman Alex Jarvais, third baseman Savanna Kandiko, outfielders Erin Whalen and Cristie Vicneire, and second baseman Madeline Wood.
“Obviously, they’ve got tradition, and they score a lot of runs,” LeBlanc said of Calais. “We’re gonna go in, we’re gonna play Madison softball, and we’ll adjust to what they do, and we’ll ride Emily just as far as she can take us.”
Thornton started out 2-3 this season, but the Golden Trojans have won their last 14. Two of those three losses were by scores of 3-2 and 4-3.
“Basically, we gave away two out of those three games,” Thornton coach John Provost said.
Provost said Thornton’s defense has improved, especially over the last quarter of the season. Thornton defeated No. 1 Scarborough in the regional final.
“We’re coming off our best defensive game of the year,” Provost said.
Bailey Tremblay does the pitching for the Golden Trojans. Offensively, they’re led by first baseman Erin Brayden, center fielder Morgan Dube, second baseman Taylor Lux, and shortstop Brooke Cross.
Provost said he wasn’t able to watch Skowhegan in person this season. That being the case, his players will just focus on what they need to do.
“You’re not going to learn a lot,” Provost said. “You could talk to some coaches, but information is just information. It all depends which girls show up for that game.”
Skowhegan proved that in Tuesday night’s Eastern A final against Cony. The Indians have seven players who are hitting .349 or better, but not one of them is Morgan Buker, who slugged a home run in a one-run victory.
One-run games have become a habit for the Indians. After going 0-3 in those games during the regular season, they’re won three straight playoff games by a total of three runs.
“I think our kids have handled it pretty well,” Skowhegan coach Lee Johnson said. “Has it been pretty the whole time? No. But we’ve talked about, ‘We don’t need to be perfect. We just need to be one run better than the other guys.'”
Skowhegan doesn’t have an easy out in its lineup: Center fielder Mikayla Toth, second baseman Eliza Bedard, first baseman Taylor Johnson, catcher Andrea Quirion, pitcher Kaitlyn Therriault, shortstop Emma Fitzgerald, Buker, third baseman Bonnie-Jane Aiken, and right fielder Renee Wright. In the circle, Therriault is coming off a two-hitter against Cony.
“I think the fact that we’ve been there (last year), we’re a little bit more prepared to handle the moment,” Coach Johnson said. “But by no means do they think it’s going to be an easy task to accomplish. It’s going to be a battle.”
Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
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