BREWER, Maine — For the second straight year, Hermon High School left-hander Karli Theberge ruined Gardiner High School’s undefeated season in the Eastern Maine Class B softball final.
But Theberge would have to share top billing with batterymate Hailey Perry, who drove in all four runs with a double and three-run homer as the defending state champs triumphed 4-0 on Tuesday night at Coffin Field.
Hermon, which has won 15 straight, improved to 17-2 and will take on Yarmouth in the state final 12:30 p.m. Saturday at St. Joseph’s College in Standish.
Gardiner wound up 18-1.
Theberge pitched a four-hitter. She struck out three and walked just one while throwing just 76 pitches, 54 for strikes.
She stranded six runners and held the Tigers hitless in 10 at-bats with runners on base.
“We just couldn’t string any hits together,” said Gardiner senior pitcher Kristal Smith. “They were the better team today.”
Last year, Theberge tossed a three-hitter to beat the Tigers 6-1.
“I thought I pitched well,” said Theberge. “My drop-curve and changeup worked well, and my defense came through for me.”
She induced nine ground-ball outs.
The Hawks made just one error and turned in several nice plays including a double play that saw Theberge snare a liner and throw to first to nail the base-runner.
Center fielder Deanna Phipps ended the game by racing into right center field to rob Morgan Carver of an extra-base hit.
“They couldn’t hit her drop-curve. All they could do was foul it off,” said Perry. “She had good movement on the ball. She threw well.”
Perry also said Theberge hit her spots effectively.
Sophomore Perry staked the Hawks to a 1-0 lead in the first inning when her two-out double to the left center field gap scored Claire Petersen, who had struck out but reached first on a third-strike passed ball.
“I was just trying to battle,” said Perry who fouled off four 1-2 pitches before eventually drilling a 2-2 pitch into the gap.
Her game-changing homer came in the fifth inning after Phipps and Lexey MacManus walked to lead off the inning.
Petersen moved them along with a sacrifice before a pop-up produced the second out.
Perry fell behind 1-2 in the count and fouled off a pair of 2-2 pitches before rifling a Smith fastball on a line over the fence in right center field.
“It was an outside pitch, and I went with it,” said Perry, whose homer was her fifth of the season. “I had been struggling with outside pitches. I had been trying to pull them and had been hitting the ball [weakly] off the end of my bat.
“I knew it was going to be a hit. I made solid contact. But I didn’t know if it was going to carry out,” said Perry, who called it the most meaningful hit of her career.
“We have been working on fouling pitches off until we get a pitch to hit, and Hailey did a great job of that,” said Hermon coach Megan McCrum.
“It was a good hit,” said Smith.
Perry had a single to go with her homer and double. Emily Perley had a double and Theberge had a base hit.
Smith pitched well in defeat, allowing just five hits with 10 strikeouts and three walks.
All four hits off Theberge were singles by four different players: Lilly Chepke, Julia Nadeau, Mary Toman and Mikayla Shaw.
Gardiner loaded the bases with two outs in the third inning on a Toman single, a sacrifice, a two-out passed ball on a swinging third strike and a walk.
But Theberge induced a liner to third baseman Kylie Kennedy to end the threat.
Gardiner got a runner to third with two outs in the first but Theberge got a grounder to third.
She retired the last seven hitters and and 11 of the last 12.
“Karli has been getting better with every game,” said McCrum.
Gardiner sophomore right fielder Nadeau said they have faced pitchers who throw at least as hard as Theberge “but we haven’t face many lefties. It’s different.”