Gardiner got a walk-off RBI sacrifice fly from Molly Takatsu on Tuesday evening in the bottom of the seventh inning, lifting them to a 4-3 victory over Old Town in the Class B North Softball Regional Championship game held at the University of Maine.
The Tigers had been staked to a 3-1 lead after five innings, but the Coyotes tied it in the sixth on a two-run error. It stayed that way until the bottom of the seventh when Sophia Marrone led off with a double. With one out, she would advance to third base on a wild pitch, and would come across to end it in walk-off fashion on a flyout to left by Takatsu.
Takatsu led the Gardiner offense with three hits, two runs scored, and the game winning RBI. Lexi Ouellette, Liv Cleary, and Karen Munzing each had one hit and one RBI. Takutsu also went the distance in the circle to get the victory allowing one run on three hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. Grace Madden, Alyse Sapiel, and Julia Reinzo had one hit a piece for the Coyotes. Madden, Natalie Fournier, and Reinzo also scored one run each. Lindsay Mockler drove in one run. Haley Sirois was tagged with the pitching loss going the first 6.1 innings and was charged with four runs on seven hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. Old Town finishes the season at 14-5. Gardiner (16-3) will take on Medomak Valley in the state championship game on Saturday at St. Joseph’s College in Standish at 12:30 p.m.
