BIDDEFORD — It was as pressure packed a situation as one could imagine.

Bases loaded, two outs, and a 3-2 count. Kirsten Lebreux fired a strike past Madeline Williams to hold onto the 2-1 win for Biddeford over Hermon in the 11-12-year-old Maine Softball State Championship tournament on Sunday.

The situation was reversed on Biddeford only 24 hours earlier, when Auburn beat Biddeford 3-2 with a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the sixth.

“It was very exciting that we get to stay in this tournament and hopefully go to the championship,” Lebreux said.

Biddeford moves on to play Lincoln County, a team Biddeford already defeated on July 16. The game is Tuesday night. Biddeford is two wins away from reaching the championship game, which will be in Biddeford on Thursday.

“This is the second time we’ve come close with [Hermon],” Biddeford manager Ray Magnant said. “Last year, we played in the championship against them, and they beat us 3-2. So this year, it was good to come out and get this win against them.”

Biddeford took a 1-0 lead in the second inning against Hermon when Charlotte White scored from third on a wild pitch. Lebreux added the second run for Biddeford in the third inning, when she hit an RBI single to left field to score Aliyah Hubbard.

Lebreux kept Hermon in check on the mound until the sixth inning, when Hermon made a comeback. However, controversy also reared its head during the first out of the inning. Alexis Hafford tried to reach home from third on a wild pitch. Biddeford catcher Briana Collard tossed the ball to Lebreux at home plate, who promptly tagged Hafford. While it appeared that Hafford made it safely, she was called out on the play, much to the dismay of the Hermon parents attending the game.

Even Lebreux thought Hafford was going to be called safe.

“I thought she was safe,” Lebreux said, “But he called her out and I said, ‘Oh thank God.'”

The call came into play moments later when Karli Theberge smacked an RBI single to bring the score to 2-1. But Lebreux kept her composure to strike out Williams and end the game.

Magnant said a big motivator throughout the rest of the tournament will be that Biddeford is only one loss away from elimination in the double-elimination tournament.

“I think that’s huge,” Magnant said. “Being in the loser’s bracket, it builds character. Biddeford fans know. We fight back, we don’t give up. We’re going to stay in this as long as we can, and they can win this if they keep coming to play like they did today.”

— Contact Dave Dyer at 282-1535 ext. 318.