Terri Trudell walked off the field on Tuesday shaking her head.
She had just watched her Lisbon High School softball team battle tooth and nail with Winthrop.
Winthrop (5-2) scored three runs with two outs in the seventh, the last two coming home on the Ramblers’ only hit, a clean single to center field by Abby Helm that plated Lily Ouellette. An error allowed Helm to touch them all.
“We are frustrated, but I think they will keep themselves focused, knowing that this is their primary sport,” said Trudell of her 2-6 Greyhounds, who host Boothbay today. “They are just as frustrated right now. But, they are great athletes who will continue to work hard to do well.”
Starting over
Winthrop and Lisbon met on May 5. After three innings and the Greyhounds leading 1-0, the game was called due to rain and started anew on Tuesday.
The Ramblers jumped ahead in the first as Cat Ouellette walked, stole second, moved to third on a groundball and scored on a Hill wild pitch.
Winthrop pitcher Krissy Doughty retired Lisbon in the first, but the Greyhounds tied the game in the second frame on back-to-back doubles by Monica Austin and Taylor Plourde.
Lisbon threatened in the third, as Arianna Kahler (2-for-4) tripled with two outs. But, Doughty made a nice stab of a Kipri Steele grounder to retire the side.
Doughty wasn’t as fortunate in the fourth. Austin doubled for the second time and later scored on a bunt by Molly Nicholson for a 2-1 Lisbon edge.
Meanwhile, Hill was rolling. Though her eight walks and a hit batter (Tessie Moody) put Ramblers on the base paths, the righty continued to pick up strikeouts, finishing with 11.
“My fastball and changeup were going well today,” said Hill. “They were swinging at high pitches, so I tried to stay up there.”
“She had been out with a groin injury, and this was her first game back,” said Trudell of her pitcher. “The element of surprise as a batter, knowing she is going to move the ball all over the place is tough. She had them off-balance.”
Doughty kept her team in it. She also struck out 11 and didn’t walk a hitter.
“She has kept us in a lot of games this year,” said Winthrop coach Bob Ouellette, whose squad hosts Wiscasset today. “She throws every game, is a senior, and has earned the right to get the ball.”
“I took all the energy that I had, the negative and positive, and used it to power my pitching,” said Doughty, who pitched out of a two-on, two-out jam in the sixth. “I just tried to get them to hit groundballs, knowing that I had my defense behind me.”
With one out in the seventh, Cat Ouellette made it to second on a Lisbon throwing error. Lily Ouellette followed with a walk, and the duo pulled off a double steal with two outs to move into scoring position.
On an 0-2 pitch to Helm, Hill uncorked a wild pitch, with Cat Ouellette just beating Hill’s tag at the plate to tie the game. One pitch later, Winthrop’s clean-up hitter ripped a single just past the dive of Lisbon shortstop Austin to bring home the go-ahead run, with Helm also scoring on a threebase error.
Lisbon put two more runners on in the seventh, with Hill reaching on an error and Olivia Harrington bunting for a hit, the eighth for the Greyhounds. But, Doughty escaped to close out the 4-2 win.
“We played a good game, but it is those timely errors that continue to kill us in key situations,” said Trudell. “We are confident, and I know we are going to come back. But, it is frustrating to be in these games and lose at the end.”
Austin led Lisbon’s offense, going 3- for-3 with a pair of doubles and scoring both Greyhound runs. Plourde and Kahler also had two hits for Lisbon.
Winthrop 4, Lisbon 2
| At Lisbon | |||||
| Winthrop – | 100 | 000 | 3 | – | 4-1-1 |
| Lisbon – | 010 | 100 | 0 | – | 2-8-2 |
Krissy Doughty and Cat Ouellette; Kailyn Hill and Jasmine Le.
Doubles – (L) Monica Austin (2), Taylor Plourde.
Triple – (L) Arianna Kahler.
Repeat hitters – (L) Monica Austin (3), Taylor
Plourde, Arianna Kahler.
Records – Winthrop 5-2, Lisbon 2-6.
Up next for Lisbon – Today at home against Boothbay, 4:30 p.m.
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