BUCKSPORT, Maine — Madysen Robichaud got robbed of a home run in the first inning of Saturday’s Class C North softball semifinal against Orono when left fielder Katie Walker leaned over the fence to make a terrific catch.
But Bucksport’s senior center fielder ruled out any heroics in the third inning when she belted a long, two-run home run to center field to help the defending two-time regional champion Golden Bucks beat the Red Riots 8-3.
That sets up Wednesday’s 6:30 p.m. regional championship game between the second-seeded Golden Bucks and No. 1 Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln at Brewer’s Coffin Field. It will be the third consecutive time they have met for the regional title.
Sixth seed Orono wound up 13-6 with three of their losses coming to the Golden Bucks.
Robichaud said she was surprised Walker caught the ball in the first inning.
“I knew she had touched it but I didn’t think she had held it because she was looking beyond the fence. But I definitely made sure on the next one,” grinned Robichaud, whose fifth homer of the year gave Bucksport a 4-1 lead.
“The pitch was a little outside but it wasn’t bad. It felt good when I hit it,” she added.
“It was a great hit,” said Orono coach Kristen Espling.
Bucksport junior right-hander Katelin Saunders went the distance for the win. She surrendered eight hits and struck out three while walking two. She threw 98 pitches, 68 for strikes.
“She’s a great pitcher,” said Orono senior Lizzie White, who hit two singles and scored two of Orono’s three runs. “She’s consistent. She throws a lot of strikes. She had a good riser and that was a struggle for us today.”
“I thought I did very well today,” said Saunders. “I hit my spots. I had to hit the corners because if I threw it down the middle, they would have cranked it.”
Saunders helped her own cause in the second inning when she rifled a two-run double down the left-field line off the top of White’s glove.
Makenzie Smith had opened the inning with a line-drive single to center and Mikayla Tripp followed with a crisp single to left. They moved up on Hannah Ashmore’s sacrifice before Saunders drove them in.
Orono answered with a run in the third when White singled and scored on Katelyn Richards’ double over the left fielder’s head.
The Bucks responded with four in the bottom of the third. Robichaud’s homer chased Red Riots starter Tianna Milton in favor of Maddie LeClair, who surrendered Smith’s double, Tripp’s run-scoring single, a fielder’s choice and Maggie Bires’ base hit.
Bucksport made it 7-1 in the fourth on a walk, Emily Hunt’s bunt single and Smith’s run-producing fielder’s choice back to the mound.
Orono scored twice in the fifth to pull within four.
White beat out an infield single, stole second and scored when Maggie Coutts’ opposite-field single to left was misplayed by the left fielder. Coutts wound up on second, moved to third on a groundout and, after a walk to Richards, she scored when Richards stole second and the catcher threw the ball into center field.
Bucksport tacked on an insurance run in the sixth on a walk, singles by Smith and Tripp and pinch-hitter Hannah Stevenson’s sacrifice fly.
Smith had a double and two singles to pace the Bucks and Tripp collected three singles. Hunt and Bires hit two singles each in Bucksport’s 13-hit attack.
White was Orono’s lone repeat hitter. Richards and Emily LeClair had doubles and Walker also made a diving catch on Saunders’ sinking liner in the fifth.
“We played well through basically the whole game,” said Bucksport coach Mike Carrier. “Orono is tough. They’ve got good hitters.”
“We hit a lot of balls at people and they found a lot of gaps,” said White. “Sometimes, that’s just how it goes. They’re a great team.”