OLD TOWN, Maine — Eastern Maine softball fans had better be forewarned, if they’re not already, that Old Town is certainly a top contender in the Class B ranks.
The Coyotes shined in all three facets of the game Saturday — pitching, hitting and defense as coach Lester Cowan’s club took a Class B doubleheader from Presque Isle, 7-1 and 11-4 at the high school field.
Senior righthander Hannah Morin got the victory in the first game while junior righty McKayla Gastia took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning in game two as Old Town improved to 3-0.
Presque Isle was playing its first games of the spring.
In game one, Morin gave up one run and six hits while compiling seven strikeouts, and she also contributed with the bat, keying a three-run rally in the fourth inning with a run-scoring double.
She had been battling a right knee injury over the winter, but after some downtime, Morin is healthy.
“It’s actually feeling pretty good right now,” she said. “I took about a three-month break from pitching and I really didn’t know how it was going to be. I started at pitchers and catchers week and I was fine.”
The Coyotes gave Morin a 2-0 lead in the second as Gastia roped a deep RBI double to center and later scored on a wild pitch.
Presque Isle got one back in the fourth on Alicia Kierstead’s bases-loaded groundout to second, but Old Town responded with the aforementioned three-run fourth-inning uprising, during which Whitney Leland also plated a run with a double.
Old Town added two more in the sixth, including Amy Singer’s RBI single.
“It always takes us a little while to get ready, but once we do hitting’s contagious for us,” said Singer.
It was in the second game for the Coyotes, as they backed Gastia with a 10-hit, 11-run attack, including a five-run rally in the fifth.
With the Coyotes holding a 4-0 lead at the time, that burst essentially put this game out of reach, as Morin just missed a home run with a double off the center-field fence while Amy Cossar smacked a bases-clearing double to the same spot.
“I feel like we’re a fairly strong team hitting-wise and it’s a nice change because we haven’t always had that,” said Morin, who drove in three runs in the two games.
Singer contributed a two-run single in the nightcap, along with Rachel Goodwin.
Gastia, who overcame seven walks to keep the Wildcats in check with a solid fastball and changeup, didn’t allow a hit until Kayla Richards’ RBI triple to left-center with two outs in the sixth.
“She’s a tough kid, she doesn’t let it bother her, which is good,” said Cowan. “It’s nice to have two pitchers that I know I can depend on to go out and throw strikes and allow us to play defense.”
Old Town’s defense committed just one error in the two contests, while 10 different Coyotes recorded at least one hit.
Krista Coffin drove in two runs with a single in game two for Presque Isle while Alecia Palmer’s first-game double was the Wildcats’ only other extra-base hit.
