With two of the state’s elite pitchers taking the mound, players and coaches on both teams knew runs would prove precious in Friday’s SMAA softball showdown between the Scarborough Red Storm and Gorham Rams.

Scarborough junior ace Melissa Dellatorre and Gorham senior hurler Kelsey Crowe didn’t disappoint. The two battled to a stalemate until Red Storm freshman Abby Rutt singled to drive in Jenn Colpitts in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift Scarborough to a 2-1 win at Scarborough High School.

The Storm kept its unbeaten record intact, moving to 10-0. The defeat snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Rams, who fell to 7-2.

Dellatorre struck out 16 and allowed seven hits while walking only one. Crowe – who registered her 300th career strikeout in a win over Thornton Academy two days earlier – had seven Ks, allowed 11 hits and walked just one.

The Storm had cruised through much of the season, winning over half its games by the mercy rule entering Friday. Coach Tom Griffin said it was good to finally face a top-notch pitcher.

“We hadn’t seen that type of pitching for a while,” Griffin said. “There’s a few pitchers in the league that can carry a team and Crowe’s one of them. Every time she goes on the mound, she’s going to give that team a chance.”

Last season, Dellatorre pitched a perfect game against the Rams in the SMAA championship. Gorham coach Pete Walker said that while the Rams came out on the losing end once again, facing Dellatorre and getting some hits against her helped his squad gain confidence.

“It was a very good game all around,” Walker said. “I’m very pleased. We went through the first part of the year without seeing that speed. The last time we faced Dellatorre, she pitched a perfect game against us in the league championship. This was good to get over that mental block.”

After Crowe got the first two hitters to fly out in the 10th, Colpitts reached on a bloop single to right field. She stole second on the first pitch to Rutt.

“Jenn’s the fastest girl we have on the team and she got a good jump,” Griffin said.

Rutt, who was hitless in four at-bats previously, came up with the game winning hit to center field, setting off a Storm celebration on the infield.

“Jenn’s a fast girl, so I knew she could score if I hit a single,” Rutt said. “I wasn’t trying to swing for the fence, because when I do I pop it up. I was just thinking contact. It was great to have a challenge. It’s good for our team to pull together like that.”

Scarborough jumped to the initial lead, as Catie Funk tripled in the third inning with two outs to plate Reegan Brackett, who had reached on a walk. Funk, who plans to play softball at Babson College next season, finished 2 for 5 at the plate after some good battles against Crowe. One of the league’s most feared hitters, Funk struck out in the first inning.

“She knows she can take me,” Funk said. “She took me once, then I took her once, and then we kind of battled from there. It was pretty evenly matched.”

“We have as much respect for (Funk) as anybody, but we said there’s going to be a time when we have to pitch to her, so let’s pitch to her,” Walker said. “We just can’t throw it down the middle of the plate.”

Gorham knotted the game in the sixth inning on Lauren Chouinard’s RBI double that scored Kirsten Turner, who reached on a pinch-hit single and advanced on Mia McGill’s sacrifice bunt.

Scarborough had its chances before the 10th, stranding two runners on base in both the seventh and eighth innings. On both occasions, Crowe got the big outs she needed. Griffin said that was frustrating, but hopefully something his team will learn from.

“When she’s bringing it at a pretty good speed, moving the ball around and spinning it, it makes it more challenging,” Griffin said. “We needed this. We needed to see it and go through it and realize that we need to keep working on it. We’re a very good hitting team, but we have to play small ball to win games.”

Gorham stranded two runners in the eighth and another in the ninth.

Bri Mancuso had two singles for the Storm. Chouinard and Lauren Fleury each had a pair of hits for the Rams.

Both teams were also in action on Monday. Gorham got an important win, topping defending Western Maine Class A champion Biddeford, 4-0. Scarborough remained unbeaten with a 12-0 victory over Massabesic in five innings.