ORONO, Maine — The defending three-time Class C champion Hall-Dale High School Bulldogs were two outs away from having their dream of a fourth straight title dashed by Bucksport at a jam-packed Kessock Field in Orono Saturday.
But the Bulldogs scored four runs on four hits, an intentional walk and two fielder’s choices in the top of the seventh inning to beat Bucksport 6-3.
Hall-Dale capped an 18-2 season with its eighth straight win.
Hall-Dale became just the third school in Maine softball history to win four consecutive state titles, joining the Richmond teams in Class D from 2013-16 and Madison’s Class C teams from 1994-97.
Bucksport also finished at 18-2 after having its 18-game winning streak snapped.
Trailing 3-2 with one out in the seventh, Hall-Dale’s Torie Tibbetts singled off pitcher Natalie Simpson’s glove to start the rally.
“When I got on base, I said to myself ‘we’re getting this back,” said Tibbetts.
She went to second on a wild pitch and scored when Zoe Soule’s sharp infield single off third baseman Jayden Tripp’s glove was thrown wildly to first by shortstop Sam Cyr, who first tried to tag out Tibbetts running to third.
Soule wound up on third and, following a fielder’s choice and intentional walk, Jade Graham ripped an 0-2 pitch to center for a base hit to break the tie.
It was Graham’s sacrifice fly in the sixth inning of last year’s state final that gave Hall-Dale a 2-1 victory over Bucksport.
Bucksport interim head coach Rich Rotella had decided to walk Marie Benoit in front of Graham for fear of Benoit putting down a run-producing squeeze bunt. Benoit had reached on a bunt single earlier in the game.
Graham swung at two high pitches that were out of the strike zone before drilling the next pitch to center field.
“I’ve been in this position before (including last year),” said Graham, who expected Simpson to throw her another high pitch and said she was ready to “tomahawk it if I had to.
“But it was down the middle, knee to waist-high, and I hit it with the good part of the bat,” said Graham who focused on not dropping her back shoulder.
Hall-Dale coach Steve Acedo said Graham has a habit of swinging at high pitches “but she comes through when we need her to,”
“I knew she was going to come back and rip it. That’s what she does,” said Hall-Dale catcher and Miss Maine Softball Soule, who fouled off three 0-2 pitches earlier in the inning before she got her infield single.
Lucy Gray followed with an RBI single through the shortstop hole and Mira Skehan’s fielder’s choice delivered the sixth run.
Jetta Shook’s RBI double down the left field line staked Bucksport to a 1-0 lead in the third but Hall-Dale responded with two in the fourth on three straight singles by Benoit, Graham and Gray, with Benoit’s and Gray’s coming on bunts, Skehan’s sacrifice fly and a fielding error.
The Bucks took the lead in the bottom of the sixth on singles by Lilly Chiavelli and Jayden Tripp, Simpson’s run-scoring single and a passed ball.
Graham and Gray each had two hits for Hall-Dale while Cyr and Simpson had two each for Bucksport.
Graham would have had a three-hit game if it wasn’t for Cyr, who robbed her of a hit in the second inning by making a sensational play, diving to her left to snare her sharply-hit ground ball and throwing a one-hop strike to first from her knees to register the out.
Hall-Dale senior Ashlynn Donahue went the distance in the circle for the win.
She allowed eight hits with five strikeouts and two walks.
Bucksport got the leadoff hitter on base in five of the seven innings but only one scored. Bucksport went 4-for-18 with runners on base.
“We left too many base runners on base today,” said Rotella. “It was a great game. They are four-time state champs for a reason.
“They are well-coached, they play good defense, they hit the ball well and their pitcher was on par today,” added the Bucksport coach.
Simpson pitched well in defeat.
She allowed seven hits and five walks, one intentional, and struck out 11.
“She had a lot of spins. She was very advanced,” said Tibbetts. “She could put the ball wherever she wanted to. And she had a really mean rise ball.”
Simpson, a junior, said she thought her team played pretty well and that she had a good outing although she admitted it wasn’t her best.
“They did a good job timing me up and hitting the ball,” said Simpson.