Bonny Eagle built an early lead in South Portland last Thursday, only to lose it briefly before eventually reclaiming it and going on to win, 11-7. The Scots then lost to Scarborough in a semifinal softball matchup on Saturday.

In the South Portland game, Caitlyn Dyer crossed home for the Scots to tie the score at 7-7 in the fifth, and teammate Ashlyn Wintle tagged up to nudge them ahead a short time later; from there, they took control on defense, silencing the Riots and allowing themselves to build a bit of breathing room.

“We played them last Monday,” Bonny Eagle head coach Sue Rondeau said of the Riots, “and we were up 9-1 and lost 10-9. They just have great bats; I think they’re the best-hitting team that we’ve faced.”

“We knew we were going to have to play errorless ball,” South Portland head coach Ralph Aceto said. “But they played a little bit better, and got the runs in the right spot.”

Bonny Eagle jumped out front in the top of the second, adding two. South Portland reclaimed one of those in the bottom of the second, and the teams traded additional blows in the third. In the fourth, the Scots tallied another, but still the Riots pressured, tying the score at 6-6 when Miranda Gleason crossed home and even going a run up when Olivia Indorf did so.

But the Scots shut them down after that, while remaining explosive themselves. Bonny Eagle hashed five in the fifth: Allie Pike, Dyer, Wintle, Melissa McDonald and Dezi Larrivee all rounded the bases to steal back the advantage – and a big advantage at that.

“We know they have great bats,” Rondeau reiterated, “so when we get ahead, even though it was four runs, there’s some nerves going. But Allie coming back after being hit in the head like that, just to have the confidence to go back on the mound, I think pumped the team back up…that was the big inning.”

Scots starting pitcher Allie Pike took a line drive in the facemask in the middle of the game. She returned after a short interlude, but with a substantial bump on her head.

Defense became the name of the Scots’ game after their rush of scoring, and though the Riots’ Kylie Kennedy and Taylor Bacheldor managed to get on base in the bottom of the seventh, the team couldn’t bring them home again.

“There’s enough blame to go around for everybody,” said Aceto. “We made some errors, we walked some people when we shouldn’t have walked them. I made a couple mistakes while I was third-base coach. No fingerpointing; it was a team effort.”

The quarterfinals battle ended the No. 4 Red Riots’ season at 12-5, and advanced the No. 5 Scots to 13-5 and a Saturday afternoon bout at No. 1 Scarborough. There, the reigning state champion Red Storm, fresh off an uncharacteristically narrow, 6-5 win over Noble, ruled the day with relative ease, posting one in the third, three in the fourth and four in the fifth to advance to Tuesday night’s A West Finals against Thornton at St. Joe’s.

South Portland’s Abby Young tosses a ball during warm-ups.Riots first baseman Michaela Willwerth returns to the bag after a confab in the pitcher’s circle with her teammates.Scots sophomore Melissa McDonald takes a cut at the ball in South Portland on Thursday.Dezi Larrivee crosses home for the Scots in their 11-7 win in South Portland on Thursday.Bonny Eagle’s Allie Pike rips a pitch toward home; the ball, line-driven back at her, smashed Pike in the facemask. She returned to the game after a short time out.South Portand’s Miranda Gleason slides for second – too late; Bonny Eagle’s Kelsey Gaddy, ball-in-glove, catches Gleason out.