ELLSWORTH, Maine — The Old Town High School softball team felt it had to respond after Ellsworth had scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to pull within 4-3 in Thursday’s Class B North game.
And that’s exactly what the Coyotes did as Caitlin King’s two-run single and Mikayla Richards’ RBI double highlighted a five-run sixth-inning rally and the Coyotes went on to post a 14-4 triumph.
Old Town improved to 5-0 while Ellsworth fell to 1-2.
“We felt a little bit of pressure. We knew we really needed to focus and get some hits,” said Richards.
Old Town coach Jenn Plourde told her team a one-run lead wasn’t going to be enough against a good-hitting Ellsworth team.
“We knew we had to pick it up. So everyone got their heads in the game and hit the ball,” said freshman pitcher Olivia Albert, who went five innings and notched the win.
Mckenna Smith started the rally by drawing a walk after fouling off three two-strike pitches. Olivia Albert lofted a single off the hustling right fielder’s glove and both moved up on a wild pitch before King rifled her sharp two-run single to center. Richards belted the next pitch into the left center field gap for her double.
A walk, a run-producing wild pitch and Kayla Hayward’s RBI fielder’s choice capped the rally.
Old Town tacked on five more in the seventh.
The Coyotes took a 3-0 lead in the first inning before adding an unearned run in the fifth.
Smith began the first-inning rally with a walk and Albert beat out an infield grounder for a base hit before Caitlyn King walked to load the bases.
Richards drew a walk to force in the first run, Lauren Gasaway delivered the second run with a sacrifice fly to right center on which a nice running catch was made by center fielder Leah Stevens, and Hayward knocked in the third run by legging out an infield hit.
In the fifth, an error, Gasaway’s fielder’s choice, a wild pitch, a groundout and another wild pitch produced the run.
Ellsworth made things interesting with its three-run rally in the fifth.
Katie Bagley walked, went to second on a wild pitch, to third on Payton Massey’s single and scored on a wild pitch.
Stevens produced a run with a sacrifice bunt and raced to third on a throwing error before scoring on Hannah Sargent’s ground-ball single to left. The Eagles eventually loaded the bases but Albert got a strikeout to end the threat.
Albert allowed four hits and three runs over five innings with three strikeouts and four walks.
Smith pitched the final two innings.
“My rise ball worked pretty good. They like to swing at the high ones,” Albert said. “Our defense was really good. That helped out a lot.”
Old Town made just two errors and center fielder Smith made a terrific running catch in the fourth as she raced all the way into the infield before throwing to first to complete a double play.
“Old Town is a good team. They always have good hitters and good pitching,” said Ellsworth coach Rick Roberts who was without two vacationing starters.
Caitlyn King had a double and two singles for Old Town and Albert had three singles. Richards doubled and singled and Hayward had two singles.
Sargent had two singles for Ellsworth and Breann Cummings doubled.