OLD TOWN — Junior lefthander Karli Theberge tossed a six-hit shutout and aided her own cause with four hits and Kylie Kennedy belted a three-run homer in the third inning as defending state Class B champion Hermon High School beat Old Town 9-0 in an Eastern Maine Class B semifinal Saturday afternoon.
The third-seeded Hawks, who unleashed a 16-hit attack, have now won 14 straight and improved to 16-2. They will face 18-0 Gardiner, the top seed, in a rematch of last year’s final at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Coffin Field in Brewer.
Hermon beat Gardiner 6-1 in last year’s title game.
Second seed Old Town finished at 16-2 with both losses coming to the Hawks.
Hermon upset the Coyotes 6-4 in the semis a year ago in a battle between the third and second seeds.
Theberge struck out six, didn’t walk anyone and hit a batter.
She threw 94 pitches, 64 for strikes.
The Coyotes had baserunners in every inning except the second but went 1-for-13 with runners on base as Theberge pitched out of numerous jams and was backed by sparkling defense as the Hawks made just one error.
Old Town stranded eight baserunners.
“I threw pretty well,” said Theberge. “I was really excited for this game and we came out strong. All of my pitches worked well and my defense backed me up. My drop-curve was definitely on-point.”
“She threw very well. She threw a lot of different pitches so it was hard to get a good hit off her,” said Old Town senior pitcher Rachel Martin.
Theberge had doubled in the game’s first run in the third before Kennedy followed by walloping her fourth homer of the season.
Lexey MacManus had lined a lead-off single to center to start the rally and Claire Petersen had beaten out a bunt single before Theberge lined an opposite-field double to left center to drive in MacManus.
One out later, Kennedy pulled an 0-1 pitch over the left center field fence.
“It felt good when I hit it,” said Kennedy. “It looked like a fastball but I’m not sure. I think it was outside and I took it to left.”
“I was supposed to throw her a high fastball but I just didn’t hit my spot and she got ahold of it,” said Martin.
Hermon added two more runs in the fourth on one-out singles by Petersen and Theberge, a walk and Sydney Addessi’s sharp two-out, two-run single to center off a changeup.
“I know I needed to get the job done. It was outside and I just swung,” said the lefthanded-hitting Addessi.
Hermon added three more runs in the seventh off reliever Caitlyn King on singles by Addessi and Katie Windsor, Deanna Phipps’ one-out RBI single, MacManus’ sacrifice fly and a run-producing wild pitch.
Theberge finished with a double and three singles. She drove in one run. Addessi had a double and two singles and two RBIs, Windsor had three singles and Petersen had two base hits.
Kennedy had her game-changing homer.
“We came together as a team and we hit well. We needed to,” said Addessi. “Karli’s a great pitcher. She’s always tough in the circle. She always gets the job done.”
Theberge, left fielder Jaelen Albert, shortstop Emily Perley and second baseman Petersen all turned in at least one defensive gem.
“They’re a real good fielding team,” said Old Town junior first baseman Kayla Hayward.
Hayward also said Theberge’s unpredictability made her effective “because sometimes she’ll work us outside and sometimes she’ll come inside.”.
Brittany Cousins and Karah Hussey had two singles each for Old Town.