SOUTH CHINA — Erskine had a lot of trouble against Oxford Hills sophomore pitcher Crystal West this season — enough to score only two runs in 14 innings over two games.

So it wasn’t the best matchup for the Eagles when they drew West and Oxford Hills in the Eastern A softball quarterfinals. West was in command after the first inning, and the fifth-seeded Vikings eliminated fourth-ranked Erskine with a 7-2 victory Thursday evening.

“That pitcher has fooled us all year,” Erskine coach Holly Tripp said. “She throws at a good speed. She throws a good moving ball, but it’s not overwhelming. We just cannot figure her out. We make contact, but it is dribbly and right at people.”

The game started like Erskine (12-5) had solved everything West had to offer. After the Vikings went down in the top of the first inning, Meryl Bond led off the Erskine half with a double. After two hard-hit singles by Alison Gauvin and Mikhaela Helm, Erskine led 2-0. Hannah Peabody and Hattie Welch followed with hard line-drive outs to end the inning, but the Eagles had apparently established something.

West never let Erskine have anywhere near that kind of success again. The Eagles hit five balls to the outfield in the first inning; they would hit a total of two over the rest of the game. Erskine had only hit after the first inning — a two-out infield single by Bond in the fifth.

“We started hitting and then I started to relax more,” said West, who struck out three and didn’t walk a batter.

Oxford Hills (12-5) got a key run in the second inning when Abby Bernier walked with two out and came home on Jordyn Sanborn’s double. Then everything spilled over for the Vikings in the fourth.

Breanna Martin led off with a triple to deep right field, but Erskine pitcher Alyssa Gartley got the next batter on a foulout. Bernier saw Oxford Hills coach Cindy Goddard give the squeeze sign, but didn’t see Goddard take the play off, so Bernier tried to bunt her way on base.

The bunt went back to Gartley, who tried to fake a throw to first and catch Martin off third. Gartley sold the fake well, but Martin stayed on the base and the Vikings had runners on first and third with one out.

“Bre wasn’t going anywhere anyway, but it was a good fake by the pitcher, because usually, that gets people,” Goddard said.

Feeling lucky, Goddard had Sanborn try a suicide squeeze. Erskine catcher Bond grabbed the ball in front of the plate, but Martin jumped over Bond to score the tying run. The Vikings added four more runs before the final out with the help of a perfect squeeze bunt by Anna Winslow and two Erskine errors.

Erskine also lost in the quarterfinals last year, but this was a bit of a different story. The Eagles were expected to falter this season after ace pitcher Sonja Morse transferred.

“We’re now 12-5. That’s a great season for us,” Tripp said. “Our best pitcher went to Cony, and I think a lot of people counted us out. So this is a very positive experience for us.”

Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243

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