AUGUSTA — Kristy Prelgovisk knew exactly what she would do, depending on where the ball was hit. When she saw Hannah Duperry’s hard grounder up the middle skip off Bangor pitcher Skylar Cassum’s glove to second baseman Meagan Conner, Prelgovisk knew she’d score the winning run.
“We’re all strong. We all work together. We knew we could come back,” Prelgovisk said.
Prelgovisk’s run in the bottom of the eighth inning capped a come-from-behind win for the Messalonskee High School softball team, which advanced to the Class A state final with the 3-2 win over Bangor on Wednesday at Cony Family Field.
Messalonskee, now 18-1, will face Scarborough in the championship game at noon Saturday at Cony.
The Eagles rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the fifth inning to win the game.
“I told them we were down 3-0 to Brewer, and we came back and won that one 5-3. This team doesn’t give up. We’re not going to go out and pound you into the ground and score 10, 12 runs a game. This team is pitching and defense,” Messalonskee coach Leo Bouchard said. “We knew we would chip away. I told the girls to tie it up for me, and we’d work it from there.”
Prelgovisk led off the bottom of the eighth by reaching second base on a throwing error. Dakota Bragg’s sacrifice bunt moved Prelgovisk to third base, setting up Duperry’s winning grounder.
The Eagles tied the game in the bottom of the sixth when Sierra McLellan, running for Duperry, scored on Kirsten Pelletier’s two out bunt down the third base line. Bouchard saw Bangor third baseman Sarah Bragg playing back, and called the bunt.
“When Hannah got on for us, I knew I had speed on the bench. (McLellan’s) smart of the bases. She reads the ball well,” Bouchard said. “KP put it down perfectly. I took a chance, and it worked out perfect for us.”
Added Pelletier: “I just knew I had to do it, We’re a team, and I had to put my share into it.”
Pelletier pitched a complete game for the win, striking out eight while allowing six hits. The only time Pelletier saw trouble was the fifth inning, when Emily Reilly led off with a home run to give the Rams a 1-0 lead. When Lilli Wiseman scored on a wild pitch with two outs, Bangor had a 2-0 lead.
“My screwball was working tonight. It was the pitch (Reilly) hit out. It was a really good hit,” Pelletier said. “You’ve just got to oull it back together. That’s what you work for. I knew my teammates would pick me up.”
Messalonskee got a run back in the bottom of the fifth, when Kelsey Dillon scored on MollyAn Kilingbeck’s double off the center field wall.
Bangor had runners on in the seventh and eighth innings, but each time had a runner thrown out at third base. The Rams had three runners thrown out at third in the game.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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