Thornton Academy senior Shannon Provost won’t see a lot of pitches to hit this season, but when she does, she’s prepared to make the most of them.

In the first inning of Monday’s SMAA softball game on the road against Westbrook, Provost saw a pitch she liked and tripled on a deep drive to right-center field. She scored two batters later on Megan Fifield’s infield single for what proved to be the winning run in the Golden Trojans’ 6-0 win.

Thornton upped its record to 4-1 while the Blue Blazes dropped to 2-4.

Provost, an all-conference second baseman who hits for power and average, reached on a sharp infield single in the fifth and knocked in a run with a well-struck sacrifice fly to left-center in the seventh. In the third, she was robbed of extra bases on a fine catch by Westbrook’s Ashlyn Bourgeois, who reached over her shoulder to snare Provost’s deep fly to center field.

“A lot of pitchers have been throwing around me, but now and then I get a good one,” said Provost, who plans to play at Husson University next spring.

Westbrook coach Jim Seavey will be glad to see a Provost-less Thornton lineup next season.

“She’s good,” Seavey said. “She’s got one of the best bats in the conference. She hits the ball hard every time and she doesn’t get impatient up there. She waits you out until you make a mistake and she gets something she wants in her zone. She uses the power alleys, left-center field to right-center field, and she hits it with power every single time.”

While Thornton jumped on top early, it wasn’t until a three-run top of the seventh that the Trojans put the Blazes away. They added single runs in the fourth and sixth innings, but stranded five runners on base in the first three innings.

“We had runners on third base two or three innings in a row and couldn’t get them across,” said Thornton coach John Provost.

Neither could Westbrook. The Blazes got runners on early and moved them over, but came away empty handed.

“Three out of the first four innings we got the leadoff batter on, sacrificed her over, had her on second base and couldn’t get her in,” Seavey said.

Hannah Ebling doubled and scored on Julia Geaumont’s single in the fourth inning to give Thornton a 2-0 lead. In the sixth, Lauren Titus walked, advanced on a sacrifice and a wild pitch, and came in to score as Molly Wiggins laid down a well-executed bunt on the squeeze play.

In the seventh, Sam Martemucci scored on Provost’s sac fly. Ebling added a two-run single as Thornton batted around, benefiting from a pair of walks and two Westbrook errors.

Emma Vaillancourt, coming off an injury, saw her first action of the season on the mound for the Trojans. She worked the first two innings, allowing only an infield single while striking out four.

“She’s my four-year starter and she’s been rehabilitating her elbow since March,” John Provost said. “Today was her first day back. She was on a 30-pitch count. We’re going to wean her back in over the next couple weeks. She threw well. She was a little frustrated because her change-up wasn’t working, but she was hitting her locations. I think she threw 19 strikes out of her 30 pitches.”

Geaumont, a freshman, pitched the final five innings, striking out six while allowing three hits. She’s filled in nicely for Thornton during Vaillancourt’s absence.

“Julia’s a great addition, our little freshman sensation,” John Provost said. “It’s a nice combination to have, especially with Emma transitioning back. We’ll probably go three or four innings with Emma and close with Julia.”

Karleigh Gaudreau pitched a complete game for Westbrook, striking out three. She got solid defense behind her as the Trojans put a lot of balls in play. Danielle Bouchard made several nice plays at shortstop for the Blazes.

“I thought Karleigh pitched well,” Seavey said. “That’s a good lineup she pitched against today. We’re heading in the right direction. The kids are working hard. I thought defensively we played well.”

Gaudreau had a pair of singles. Bouchard and Bourgeois each singled, as well.