AUGUSTA — The only thing that could slow down the Skowhegan Area High School softball team in the Class A North championship game was the weather.

A small thunderstorm hit the Cony Family Field just before the start of the seventh inning, but all that did was delay Skowhegan’s victory party. With an 8-2 win over No. 4 Edward Little, the Indians earned their second regional title in three years.

The No. 6 seed in the region, Skowhegan will face Biddeford (15-4) in the Class A state championship game Saturday at St. Joseph’s College in Standish. The victory was the ninth in 11 games for the Indians. Midway through the regular season, however, Skowhegan was 3-5 and treading water.

“At the beginning of the season, I thought we could make it (to the state game), but then I thought, maybe we won’t,” said Skowhegan senior third baseman Bonnie-Jane Aiken, who scored two runs and drove in another. “We picked it back up.”

“I tell the kids, the season’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon,” Skowhegan coach Lee Johnson said. “Right now, we’re a team that believes in each other.”

Skowhegan broke the game open with four runs in the top of the fourth inning. Wylie Bedard led off with a single, and Ashley Alward followed with a bunt single. Aiken worked a walk after being down 0-2 in the count to load the bases, setting up Lindsey Warren, who hit a two-run double down the first base line, giving the Indians a 4-1 lead.

With one out, Eliza Bedard hit a two-run single, chasing Edward Little (13-6) starting pitcher Sarah Hammond from the game, and giving the Indians a 6-1 lead.

“We were just focused and determined to win,” Aiken said.

Skowhegan starter Sydney Ames worked out of jams in the second, third and fourth innings, allowing just an unearned run in the third over that span. The freshman settled in, striking out five and walking four, using a strong changeup to keep the Red Eddies guessing throughout the game.

“I told her to refocus for a second. She’s a pretty tough nut,” Johnson said.

When play resumed after the half hour rain delay in the top of the seventh inning, Skowhegan added a pair of insurance runs, on an Alward double and Aiken single. The Eddies rallied to score a run with two outs in the bottom of the inning, before Ames got a grounder to Eliza Bedard at second to end the game.

“You’re going to have moments where you have to find a way to dig in, and this group has done that,” Johnson said.

Skowhegan scored the first two runs of the game in the top of the third. Eliza Bedard walked with the bases loaded, and Julia Steeves hit a sacrifice fly to left to give the Indians a 2-0 lead. Edward Little got a run back in the bottom of the inning when Caleigh Copeland scored on Hammond’s groundout to first base.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM

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