OLD TOWN, Maine — Old Town High School freshman right-hander Olivia Albert’s first playoff game was a memorable one.
Albert tossed a complete-game six-hitter and aided her own cause with two singles and three RBIs as the fourth-seeded Coyotes topped fifth-seeded Nokomis of Newport 10-2 in a Class B North softball quarterfinal on a blustery and rainy Thursday.
Old Town improved to 14-3 after winning its sixth straight, and youthful Nokomis, which started five sophomores and two freshmen, wound up 13-5. Nokomis had won seven of its previous eight.
Old Town will travel to play top seed Hermon, 17-0, in a 4 p.m. Saturday semifinal. Hermon won the two regular season meetings 9-1 and 9-0.
Senior left fielder Caitlyn King paced Old Town’s 14-hit attack with a two-run triple and three singles. Shortstop Mikayla Richards, also a senior, belted her fourth homer of the season and drove in three runs.
Albert walked two, both in the first inning, and had eight strikeouts. She threw 105 pitches of which 77 were strikes. Just one of the runs was earned.
“I started a little rough, walking two in the beginning, but as I got into a groove, it got easier,” said Albert, who improved to 6-1. “My defense helped me out a lot.”
Albert, who said she threw a lot of curveballs, wasn’t fazed by the fact she was making her playoff debut.
“It was just like any other game. You just have to keep your head in the game,” she said.
Sophomore third baseman Austin Leighton’s two-run homer in the third, which tied the game, represented Nokomis’ only runs. It was her third of the year.
“We struggled with the weather, and we hadn’t seen anybody throw that many curveballs,” said Leighton.
“We had people on base all the time, but we couldn’t get them across the plate,” said Nokomis coach John McLellan. “That was the issue we had right there.”
Nokomis stranded eight runners, including four in the first two innings.
McLellan also said his team ran into a good-hitting Old Town team.
“They hit the ball really well. They earned it,” said McLellan.
“We came out aggressive. We were looking to hit our pitch,” said Richards.
Old Town broke a 2-2 tie and took the lead for good with two runs in the bottom of the third inning.
Albert walked, King singled, a wild pitch moved the runners up to second and third, and Richards hit a sacrifice fly before the final run scored on an infield throwing error.
Old Town made it 5-2 in the fourth when Olivia Westura reached on an infield single, went to second on a groundout and scored on Albert’s sharp two-out ground ball single to center.
Richards homered to center to open the fifth, and the Coyotes added four runs in the sixth highlighted by King’s two-run triple to left.
Old Town had taken a 2-0 lead on an RBI single by Albert in the first and Olivia King in the second, but Leighton’s two-run homer tied it in the top of the third.
In addition to Caitlyn King, Hayward and Albert, Kayla Hayward and Natalie St. Louis also were repeat hitters for the Coyotes. Hayward doubled and singled, and St. Louis singled twice.
Leighton had a single to go with her homer for Nokomis. Alyssa Ellis had two singles, and Aren Herrick doubled. Libby Dunivan pitched a complete game.