GARDINER — Gardiner softball coach Don Brochu went to a freshman with the game on the line Monday, and the move paid off.

With runners on second and third and two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Brochu called for a bunt from Maddie Farnham. She pushed the ball toward first and everything fell into place as Cony pitcher Gabby McGuire threw low to first and two runs scored. The Tigers survived a Rams rally in the seventh for a 4-3 victory.

“We’ve been working a lot in practice on sacrifice bunts,” said Farnham, who made a couple of strong defensive plays at third as well. “It’s been very exciting. High school ball is a big change.”

Brochu had no qualms about calling for a bunt with two out.

“It puts the pressure on the defense to come up with a play,” Brochu said. “If you don’t, we score.”

Don Brochu’s cousin Al, who is Cony’s head coach, said the bunt didn’t take his team by surprise despite the fact their were two out.

“We were ready for it, we just didn’t execute the play,” he said.

The meeting was the first in the regular season between the two rivals in several years. They still play in different classes, Cony in A and Gardiner in B, but this season the Maine Principals’ Association adopted crossover games. Gardiner improved to 1-1 while Cony fell to 0-2.

“It’s fun,” Gardiner pitcher Jillian Bisson said of the renewed rivalry. “We’re all friends. Everybody knows their weaknesses or they know ours. And I think it pumps us up more than anything else.”

The game began as if it would be a slugfest. The Rams scored twice in the top of the first when Cari Hopkins walked and came home on Alexis Couverette’s long blast over the left-field fence.

“Into the wind,” Al Brochu said. “That was a well-struck ball.”

The Tigers tied the game at 2 in the bottom of the first on two Cony errors and an RBI single from Kylie Sirois. After that, both pitchers settled down. McGuire retired 11 of 12 batters between the second and sixth innings by keeping the Tigers off balance.

“I thought she did a great job,” Al Brochu said. “She mixed it up real well.”

The Cony junior allowed six hits, struck out five and walked two, both of those runs scoring.

Bisson settled down as well but ran into trouble in the fourth and fifth innings. On both occasions she came up with key outs to keep the Rams off the board. The Rams had runners on second and third with one down in the fourth and Bisson responded by getting a strikeout and a groundout. With two out and runners on second and third in the fifth, the Gardiner junior bore down and got Couverette on a pop-up to third.

“I feel like I’ve gotten a little stronger,” said Bisson, who allowed seven hits and struck out four. “And I have a great defense behind me so that gives me more confidence, too.”

Maggie Bell robbed Emily Houston of extra bases with a nice running catch in center in the fifth and the left side of the infield was strong as well with Farnham at third and Logan Granholm at short.

“They all play well defensively,” Don Brochu said. “Hopefully, that’s what we’re going to live by.”

The Rams scored a run in the seventh when freshman Jade Hutchings singled and pinch runner Sam Melland scored on Carly Lettre’s base hit. Lettre and Couverette each had a pair of hits for Cony, while Sirois singled twice for the Tigers.

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