AUGUSTA — A booming offense and a gritty pitching effort led the 10th-seeded Lawrence softball team to a season sweep of No. 7 Cony on Tuesday night.

Bulldog junior Mackenzie McAvoy allowed only one earned run in a complete game from the circle, while classmate Ruby Pierce clubbed a fourth-inning grand slam to lead Lawrence to a 13-3, six-inning mercy-rule win over the Rams in a Class B North preliminary round game at Family Field.

Lawrence (8-9), which plated runs in every inning but the second, has little time to relish the victory. The Bulldogs travel to No. 2 Old Town for a 4:30 p.m. first pitch for Wednesday’s regional quarterfinal.

“I think it’s good,” McAvoy said of the quick turnaround. “We’re on a roll, and I think if we had time off we might slow down on that roll a little bit. Especially after today’s win, we’re all fired up a little bit.”

McAvoy drove in each of Lawrence’s first two runs with RBI singles in the first and third innings, before Cony (7-10) cut the lead in half in the bottom of the third with Jieselle Mills’ fielder’s choice.

It was in the fourth, though, when the Bulldogs gave McAvoy all the support she needed to get them their third win over Cony in as many games this spring.

Lawrence sent 11 batters to the plate and got a two-run double from Maylie Knox (3 for 4) to make it 4-1 before Pierce landed her crushing blow over everything in left field for an 8-1 lead.

“It was my first over-the-fence home run ever,” Pierce said. “It did feel like a really good hit. I was watching it and hoping, it was really exciting.”

Cony’s Suri Ramkissoon pitches against Lawrence in a Class B North softball prelim game Tuesday in Augusta. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

Lawrence added five more runs over the last two innings. 

Leadoff hitter Kalyee Elkins went 2 for 3 with three runs scored in the win, and each of the first eight Bulldogs in the order reached base successfully at least twice.

“We work really hard for it,” Pierce said. “We do our best every time we get up to the plate. I’m proud of how far this team has come.”

At the center of it all, McAvoy scattered seven hits — four after being backed with a big lead — with four strikeouts to hold Cony at bay.

“She was solid. She’s a tough, tough competitor,” Lawrence coach Joey Marcoux said of his pitcher, noting that McAvoy has been dealing with a hip injury but wouldn’t entertain the thought of coming out of the game, even with the big lead. “She does not like losing,”

“I’m more proud of my defense than myself,” McAvoy said. “I can’t do anything without that defense behind me. My job is to give them something to hit, and their job is to make a play. We always do that.”

As for having another playoff game less than 24 hours later, Marcoux agrees with his players that there’s no time like the present.

“Why not?” Marcoux asked. “It gives them time not to think. Especially for the seniors, it’s a hard rush of a week.”