TURNER — By the end of the regular season, the Gardiner softball team had an 0-2 record against Leavitt, being outscored by an 18-5 margin.

The Tigers turned the tide against Leavitt on Thursday, collecting 15 hits, including two home runs, on the way to a 14-3 win in a Class B South quarterfinal. Senior Taylor Takatsu and sophomore Addison Pollis each went 2 for 3, with a home run, double and two RBIs for the Tigers.

No. 5 Gardiner (12-6) will play No. 1 York — a 13-3 winner over No. 8 Greely on Thursday — in the semifinals. In their two playoff games, the Tigers have outscored opponents by a 20-3 margin.

Gardiner head coach Ryan Gero credited Husson University pitcher Ana Lang, as well as former Gardiner pitcher Raylee Gilbert, now playing at Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire, with working with the team in preparation for the playoffs.

“We had help, we had two of the best pitchers in the state come pitch to us last week, and it helped,” Gero said.

“That gave us the confidence we needed to come into this game,” added Takatsu, a third baseman. “Also, we had no pressure… (The attitude was), ‘Just go out, be comfortable and play your game. Act like it’s a practice.’”

Sam Deblois had three hits for the No. 4 Hornets (12-5), including a double and an RBI.

Gardiner jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning highlighted by Pollis’ two-run homer, which plated Takatsu and Taryn Nichols. Pollis cracked a pitch off Leavitt starter Hailey Cyr that carried into center field and drifted just beyond the wall for the home run. The Tigers added two more runs, aided by a Corinne Vasvary RBI double, to lengthen the lead to 6-0.

Up 9-3 in the sixth inning, Takatsu hit a shot over the center field wall of Leavitt pitcher Abby Albert, which also plated Lainey Cooley.

Takatsu said she knew immediately that she hit a home run, as soon as the ball came off the bat.

“It came off the bat pretty hard, it was awesome,” Takatsu said.

Gardiner got contributions from nearly everyone in the lineup, including freshman right fielder Zoey Brennan, who went 2 for 3 at the plate, with a double and two RBIs.

“We’ve been working hard all year, just trying to get things to roll right,” Gero said. “Trying to find the right lineup, trying to find the right batting order. Corinne Vasvary has moved from center field to catch and has been a shut down (defender) for us. We have a freshman in right field and she’s killing it.

“We told the girls, it doesn’t matter if we’re (seeded) one, three, four or five. We have to win five (games for the state title),” Gero continued. “If we’re going to do this, we’ve got to win five. We’ve got three to go.”

Leavitt managed to score its three runs in the third inning, with an RBI single from Cyr and an RBI double from Deblois. But Cooley settled down in the circle for Gardiner, allowing four hits in the final four innings and struck out five in the game.

“(Gero) is just phenomenal, he had (Gardiner) ready,” Leavitt head coach Kevin Leonard said. “We had some good shots, but there’s not much you can do.

“We had a great season, it was a lot of fun,” Leonard added.