BANGOR, Maine — It was Seniors Day for the Bangor High School softball team, and the opponent was archrival Brewer, which dealt the Rams a 7-5 setback on April 25.
And it just so happened to be a senior who made it a memorable regular-season finale for the Rams.
Sarah Bragg tossed a five-hit complete-game and drove in three runs with her sixth homer of the season, a double and a single to lead the Rams to a 6-2 triumph in an errorless game.
Bangor finished up the regular season at 11-5 with four wins in its last five games, all against Class A North playoff teams, and is now seeded third in Class A North.
Brewer fell to 8-8 after having its four-game winning streak snapped and is seeded eighth.
Right-hander Bragg, who improved to 5-3, struck out five and walked one while throwing 83 pitches, 54 of which were strikes.
She pitched six scoreless innings before being nicked for a pair of runs in the seventh.
“I threw a lot of curves today. Everything was working,” said Bragg, who considered it one of her best outings of the season.
“I was really pumped up,” said Bragg, who wanted to avenge the early-season loss.
“Sarah Bragg pitched a very good game today,” said Brewer coach Skip Estes. “We couldn’t string any hits together.”
“She was throwing some junk pitches we hadn’t seen from her before, some offspeed stuff,” said Brewer designated player-pitcher and co-captain Meg Davis.
Bangor staked her to a 3-0 lead in the first inning at the expense of Brewer senior righty Ally Chapman.
Emily Gilmore drew a leadoff walk and stole second. Megan Conner was hit by a pitch, and Gilmore and Conner worked a double steal.
Emma Payne delivered Gilmore with a sacrifice fly to center, and Conner moved to third on the throw to the plate.
Bragg lofted a high pop fly that dropped into left center to drive in Conner, and she scored when Jenna Bishop slapped a line-drive single into right center.
“I had been struggling with my slapping. I’m happy I got the hang of it today,” said Bishop.
Chapman settled down nicely after the first inning, hurling three innings of two-hit shutout ball until the Rams added a pair of runs in the fifth.
They added another in the sixth off Davis.
In the fifth, Conner belted a one-out double into right center, went to third on Payne’s sacrifice and scored on a wild pitch.
Bragg then belted a high pitch over the fence in left field to extend the lead.
“I like high pitches,” said Bragg with a grin. “I saw the ball well today.”
In the sixth, Bangor reached Davis for a run on singles by Madison Drake, Kathryn Sund and Gilmore (RBI).
Brewer made things interesting in the seventh.
Libby Hewes lofted a lead-off single into left center and, after a wild pitch, Mikayla Henderson walked. After another wild pitch, Davis poked an RBI single to center and M.J. Sellars drove in the second run with a fielder’s choice.
Sydney Hewes followed with a single, but Bragg got a strikeout and foul-out to end the game.
Bragg was the game’s only repeat hitter.
“We were bitter about losing to them because we didn’t feel we played our best. But we turned it around today. Just about everyone had a hit. It was a group effort. And Sarah pitched a really good game,” said senior second baseman-outfielder Gilmore.