When the Messalonskee and Madison high school softball teams play for their respective regional titles Wednesday, they’ll each do so against an opponent it already defeated once this season.
That won’t make the games any easier, however.
“I think we match up somewhat evenly,” Messalonskee coach Leo Bouchard said of Bangor, his team’s opponent in the Eastern Class A championship game, which is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday at Cony High School in Augusta.
In the Western Class C final, Madison will take on Telstar at 3:30 p.m. at St. Joseph’s College in Standish. A victory will send defending Class C state champion Madison to the state game for the third year in a row.
Madison eked out a 2-1 win at Telstar early in the regular season.
“We had a very close game over there (Bethel),” Madison coach Chris LeBlanc said. “I don’t know if we were hitting as well as we’ve been hitting lately.”
The Bulldogs offense has been strong throughout the lineup, and LeBlanc pointed out that No. 9 hitter Sydney LeBlanc hit a triple in Madison’s semifinal win on Saturday.
“One through nine, we really have done well. If the top of the order isn’t doing it, the middle comes through, or the bottom,” LeBlanc said.
Messalonskee defeated Bangor 7-1 in early May. Bouchard said the Eagles saw three Bangor pitchers in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championship game — Skyler Cassum, Cordelia Stewart and Emily Rilley — and is ready for any of them.
“We hit all three,” Bouchard said.
Messalonskee has an ace in Kirsten Pelletier, who has 144 strikeouts and 20 walks in just over 100 innings pitched. Offensively, the Eagles are led by Kristy Prelgovisk, a power threat, Maddie Charest, who is hitting .500, and MollyAn Killingbeck, who has a .630 on base percentage. Bouchard pointed to Hannah Duperry, whose average jumped 500 points this season, and Dakota Bragg as other keys to Messalonskee’s lineup.
“(Bragg) always seems to come up with that hit when we need one,” Bouchard said.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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