Auburn, ME – CMCC Softball tried to beat the rain to complete its doubleheader with Southern Maine Community College, but mother nature brought proceedings to a halt in the top of the fourth inning of game two. The defending national champion Seawolves took game one, 8-1.
Game One: 8-1 L
SMCC starting pitcher Sloan Scotvold found her groove in the circle early on, striking out the side in the bottom of the first inning. The visitors took the lead in the top of the second. Ella Voth smacked a two-out triple, and Emma Hartt drove her in with a single to left field.
CMCC did have some solid defensive plays. Catcher Vanessa St. Pierre ended both the first and second inning by throwing out a runner trying to steal second base. She also became the Mustangs' first base runner by working a walk with one out in the bottom half of the inning, but was left stranded.
Arianna Cross made it 3-0 in the third with an RBI single. The Seawolves then scored three more runs in the top of the fourth. After loading the bases, Taylor Swift laced a ground ball between third and short that plated two, making it 4-0. Jayden Tripp added one more with a single. Carly Youngblood scampered home to beat the throw from right field.
St. Pierre broke up Scotvold's no-hitter in the bottom of the fifth with a leadoff single, floating the ball into shallow center field. Isabella Lyons moved her over to second with a sacrifice bunt. Alivia Field grounded out, but Brianna Arsenault had a great at-bat, spoiling several good pitches by fouling them off and ultimately working a full-count walk. Melody Rousselle then dropped a single into right field to load the bases. Southern Maine kept its shutout intact when Brook Norman grounded out to the pitcher.
RBI hits from Tripp and Cross made it 7-0 Seawolves in the top of the sixth. In the bottom half of the inning, Hailey Turcotte reached on a chopper to short. Olivia Rioux sent her sprinting around to score the hosts' first run of the day with a hard ground ball down the right-field line into the corner. St. Pierre followed up with a double to move the pinch-running Stella Laubenstein over to third, but Scotvold fanned Lyons and Field to end the threat.
A two-out, lined shot that went in and out of Turcotte's glove in left field set up Swift for an RBI single to make it 8-1 in the top of the seventh. That would prove to be the final score, as SMCC took game one. Scotvold picked up the victory with an impressive 12 strikeouts.
Game Two: 0-0 in 4th (Suspended)
In game two, the rain started up after two scoreless innings with starting pitchers Turcotte, for CMCC, and Ava Dionne, for SMCC, keeping the offenses at bay.
Both teams played through the third inning, but as the rain picked up in intensity the umpires made the call to suspend play in the top of the fourth, with the game not having reached official distance.
