SACO — Heading into Monday’s Class A South softball showdown between Noble and Thornton Academy most people were probably expecting to see a low-scoring game because of the standout pitchers leading both squads.
While both Noble’s Raegan Kelly and Thornton Academy’s Louisa Colucci showed why they are two of the best softball hurlers in the state, it would be one big swing of the bat that stole the show.
Noble junior Abby Lewis broke open a 2-2 tie with a three-run home run in the top of the fourth and the Knights would hold on for a 5-3 victory over the host Golden Trojans.
“It was the play of the game. I don’t even know how to explain it but we needed that and she definitely stepped up,” said Kelly on her teammate’s big blast.
Noble coach Rick Melanson was thrilled to see Lewis take over the role of hero for the Knights, who improved to 6-1 on the season.
“Abby comes up and hits a three-run home run and I told the kids that when I woke up this morning if we were going to win the game I really didn’t think it would be Abby Lewis to hit the three-run home run,” said Melanson. “She’s a good hitter. In batting practice she’ll hit line drives, but hitting them out doesn’t happen. She just timed it right and got it all. I’m really happy for her.”
Noble would strike first on Monday thanks to a miscue from the TA defense. Kelly singled and would try to score on a double from Mackenzie Aleva but she would be gunned down at home. Aleva  went to third on the throw home and would score when a TA throw to third went into left field.
Thornton answered right away when Kaitlin Verreault sent the first pitch from Kelly over the left field foul pole to make it 1-1.
Verreault would score the Trojans’ second run in the bottom of the third when she singled and was brought home by an RBI single from Olivia Howe.
Noble’s big fourth inning started with a single from Aleva, who moved all the way to third on a sacrifice bunt from Kassidy Lessard. Aleva scored on an RBI infield single from Jordan Boucher.
That made the score 2-2 and would set the table for Lewis. Lauren Sanger walked to put two runners on and the Noble junior came through with the three-run shot.
“It was awesome. I’ve had a rough season so far and I guess it was a confidence booster for all of us because I think that made us play as a team even more,” said Lewis, who was happy to help out Kelly. “It definitely picked her up. She came up to me and said ‘thanks for making my job easier.’”
The Trojans would get a run back in the bottom of the fourth when Amanda Bogardus walked and scored on an RBI single from Verreault.
Kelly, who finished the game with 10 strikeouts, was able to shut down the Trojans the rest of the way and pick up the win.
“There’s no excuses. She’s a great pitcher and we battled, we had kids in scoring position in several innings today but she had a great change-up, kept us off-balance and just did a tremendous job. She buckled down when she needed to,” said TA coach John Provost of Kelly.
Kelly credits Aleva with changing the gameplan on the fly from behind the plate.
“My catcher did an awesome job calling the game. I definitely would not have done that without her. She read the batters the first pitch of the game and she knew that they’re anxious to hit and they’re good hitters so I just had to change my game,” Kelly said.
Melanson was happy to get a win over a powerhouse program like TA after the Knights dropped a 6-0 decision to Scarborough earlier this season.
“It’s huge. We were hoping to be a top four team (in Class A South) and this really helps that happen. It’s a great win,” Melanson said.
The Trojans dropped to 8-1 on the season with the tough loss. Provost is hoping this game will help his team down the road.
“It’s a playoff type of game. We have to be used to playing in games like this,” said Provost. “We’re going to deal with adversity and calls aren’t always going to go their way and they’re going to run into pitchers like this, and we just need to learn to bounce back.”
— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.