Old Town softball beat York, 6-3, in the Class B state championship game on Saturday.
BREWER, Maine – The No. 4 Old Town High School Coyotes claimed their second softball state title with a 6-3 victory over the No. 1 York High School Wildcats in the Class B championship game at Coffin Field on Saturday.
There was no score until York’s bats came alive in the top of the fifth inning. Senior right fielder Terra Pepin led off the inning with an infield single, which was followed by another infield single from Elise Holly. Sophomore Kiley Blondin drove both runners in with a double to left field. Blondin scored on a ground out from pitcher Stephanie Rundlett to put the Wildcats up three runs.
Rundlett also recorded a double and two singles, but her arm was what kept York in the game. The senior right-hander didn’t allow a hit or walk in the first four innings, while striking out eight of the first 12 batters she faced, including the first six to start the game.
“Once they scored, Kayla Hayward, one of our senior captains, came in and she was mad,” said Old Town coach Jenn Plourde. “She got everyone going.”
Rundlett had struck out 239 batters in the regular season and 53 in the three playoff games before Saturday’s final.
“Our whole mindset going into it was just to get contact. Make their infield or their defense play, and then prove to us that they’re better than us,” said Plourde.
Old Town overcame their trouble hitting off Rundlett in the bottom of the inning, scoring four runs on five hits.
Caitlyn King led off the inning with a triple to the left field fence, and scored on a Mikayla Richards single to center. A bunt single from Lauren Gasaway and a double steal put two runners in scoring position with nobody out for the Coyotes. Hayward tied the game with a two run double, and later scored the go-ahead run on a Natalie St. Louis single to right field.
“I went up to bat confident and relaxed and ready to hit,” said Hayward. “I heard my town cheering for me and I didn’t want to let them down.”
Freshman Olivia Albert held off the Wildcat offense in the final two innings, including escaping a two-on, nobody-out jam in the sixth inning.
Albert allowed 12 hits and one walk in seven innings. She recorded six strikeouts in the game.
“I’ve pitched before and it was just like every other game,” said Albert. “I knew my team would have my back on defense and offense.”
The freshman pitcher also gave herself an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth by hitting a leadoff home run over the center field wall.
“I was just looking to get on,” said Albert. “I was expecting to swing hard and maybe something good would happen, and it did.”
“I knew that she could make contact,” said Plourde. “She stays after it every single day at practice and hits buckets and buckets of ball.”
Caitlyn King followed the home run with a single and scored on a York error, putting the Coyotes up, 6-3.
It is the first loss for York since they fell to Traip Academy, 16-4, in the season opener.
In the quarterfinals, York scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie No. 9 Wells. They won the game in the ninth inning, 4-3. They beat No. 4 Oak Hill, 2-0, in the semifinals behind a 19-strikeout performance from Rundlett. The Wildcats walked off on a Maeve Campbell double in the seventh inning of the regional final against No. 3 Greely, 4-3.
It is the first softball state title appearance for York since 1991, when they lost to Messalonskee, 7-2. York last won the state championship in 1989, when they blew out Messalonskee, 22-4.
Old Town finished the regular season 13-3. In the quarterfinals, they beat No. 5 Nokomis, 10-2, to set up a semifinal match with No. 1 Hermon, who had beaten the Coyotes twice during the regular season. Old Town won the third meeting, 1-0, and advanced to the regional final, where they beat No. 3 Winslow, 2-1.
Old Town swept the 2016 baseball and softball Class B state finals.
It is their first appearance in the championship game since 2012, when they beat Fryeburg Academy, 4-1, and came only hours after the Old Town baseball team captured their first state title by beating Freeport, 12-2.
“Them winning obviously gave us more motivation to get this win,” said Hayward. “I think that’s going to be a really big thing for our school.”
“To see the whole community come together is amazing,” said Plourde. “They’re great kids, so we might as well celebrate.”
