South Portland, ME – CMCC Softball made a statement of intent with its young roster, taking on Southern Maine in its second fall doubleheader series. The Mustangs pushed the reigning national champions to extra innings in game one before falling 6-5 in controversial fashion before dropping the second contest to the Seawolves 18-6.
Game One: 6-5 L
Central Maine got off to the perfect start on the road, with leadoff hitter Ava Brasslett smacking a double to center field. Back-to-back groundouts to the short stop by Alivia Field and Olivia Rioux moved her over to third and brought her home to score respectively.
The 1-0 lead stayed intact until the fifth inning thanks in large part to solid defense and solid pitching from freshman Melody Rousselle. The Kennebunk, ME native did not allow a hit until the third inning, struck out five, and had three straight inning-ending strikeouts.
The Mustangs increased their lead to 3-0 in the top of the fifth. Maleah Rhodes hit a double up the middle off Sloan Scotvold and took third when Brook Norman reached on an error at first. Brasslett drove her in with a hard single up the middle. Norman scored two batters later, on another error at first off Rioux's grounder.
The Seawolves roared to life in the bottom half of the inning. On her third time through the order, Rousselle suddenly saw SMCC make more contact. Jayden Tripp led off on a shallow fly ball that dropped. Myranda Caddy followed with a one-out single and Hayley Cowan got them both into scoring position with a sac-bunt. That set the stage for Carly Youngblood who ripped a two-RBI double to center. Scotvold then tied the game with a second-straight, two-out double to make it 3-3.
The later innings continued to see more offense. Mackenzie McAvoy gave Southern Maine its first lead when she hit a two-run home run over the left field fence in the bottom of the sixth. The young Central Maine side showed its resilience while down to their last three outs. They responded by scoring two runs of their own. Brasslett picked up her third hit and second RBI by driving in Rhodes with a single. Rioux then brought her around to score the game-tying run with a groundout to short stop Cowan. That sent the game to extra innings.
Controversy reared its head in the top of the eighth. Hailey Turcotte started on second and advanced to third with one out, but this was appealed by head coach Chris Caswell regarding an error in how she was labeled on the scorecard. The umpire ruled her out, setting up the hosts with a chance to win the game in the bottom half of the inning.
Taylor Swift bunted Ariana Cross over to third while Jayden Stevens and McAvoy drew walks to load the bases. Cross came home with the game-winning run on a fly out to center field by Emma Hartt.
(*Note: This game was protested regarding the ruling of an out for an error on the scorecard. After CMCC won the appeal, the game will be replayed from that moment in the top of the eighth inning before the doubleheader in Auburn on September 27th.)
Game Two: 18-6 L
The second game of the doubleheader was much more straightforward for Southern Maine. The hosts got out to a big lead, scoring multiple runs in each inning. SMCC went up 4-0 in the bottom of the first. After Vanessa St. Pierre pulled a run back by scoring on Payton Newson's fly ball that was dropped for an error, the Seawolves scored six more in the bottom of the second for a commanding 10-1 lead.
They added six more in the third to all but put the game away. The Mustangs responded by scoring three runs in the top of the fourth, but it only made a small dent. St. Pierre lined a shot to center that brought in Rousselle, Rhodes scored on an RBI groundout by Newson, and Isabella Lyons plated St. Pierre with a single to right. Aurélie Poulin looked to keep the inning going with a walk and Brasslett followed with a single to load the bases, but Field grounded into a fielder's choice to end the threat.
Two more runs by the Seawolves made it 18-4 headed to the top of the fifth, meaning CMCC needed five runs to extend the contest. They got only two with a double from Norman bringing in Rhodes and St. Pierre.
Caddy had a fantastic game for SMCC with the leadoff hitter going 3-for-3 with a walk and five RBIs while Youngblood, Cross, and McAvoy each had two RBIs of their own in the second game. Dunham picked up the win in the circle, striking out one and giving up just two earned runs.
