Auburn, ME – CMCC Softball wrapped up its 2025-26 season by hosting fellow YSCC schools Southern Maine Community College and the University of Maine at Augusta for their Mustang Softball Invitational Tournament. The #2 seed, SMCC, defeated CMCC 7-3 in a back-and-forth battle to move on to face UMA in the final. Before the game, Central Maine honored its three graduating players, McKenna Ridlon, Madison Anderson, and Stella Laubenstein.
Starting pitcher Melody Rousselle led the way for the Mustangs. She wrapped up her first season of college softball by going 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs while limiting the Seawolves to just six hits over six innings. Alivia Field made some great catches in the outfield and picked up the team's other RBI on the day with an extra-base hit.
"I loved the way we came out to compete today," said head coach Fred Wilcox. "I think the team improved throughout the season. I had some players playing out of their normal positions, but they all stepped up and did what they had to do for the team. I told them they had great energy, we just need to clean some things up on the defensive side of the ball and we will see some notches added more consistently in the win column."
With less than four teams in the Yankee Small College Conference fielding softball teams this spring, there was no YSCC Tournament to be held. Central Maine made the decision to give the three member institutions the chance to play a postseason tournament ahead of the upcoming USCAA Small College World Series, with both SMCC and UMA in contention for at-large bids to the national stage.
The Seawolves drew first blood in the bottom of the first after starting pitcher Ava Dionne opened the game with a one-two-three inning. Ella Voth walked for Southern Maine to lead things off and took second on a wild pitch. Drea Rideout next saw her fly ball to left snagged by Field, but the throw back to second to try and double up Voth bounced wide. That allowed the speedy sophomore from Lacombe, AB to scamper home with the first run.
Central Maine took a surprise lead over the reigning USCAA national champions in the top of the second. Vanessa St. Pierre was hit by a pitch to put a leadoff baserunner on first. The freshman from Durham, ME took second on a wild pitch, and advanced over to third on a groundout by Kennedy Lampert. Alivia Field strode to the plate next and clobbered an offering off the fence to straightaway center field for an RBI double. Rousselle followed suit, sending a ground ball up the middle to make it 2-1 Mustangs.
SMCC battled back to even things up in the bottom half of the inning. Emma Hartt lined an RBI single to left that scored Jayden Tripp. The Mustangs were able to get Hartt out on the basepaths as she tried to take second. Rousselle cut off the throw from Field and quickly snapped it over to Brianna Arsenault for the tag.
Rideout put the Seawolves back in front in the bottom of the third. She launched a fly ball over the head of Hailey Turcotte in right field for a standup triple, and took home for a 3-2 lead after the cut-off man delayed too long before throwing the ball in.
A couple of illegal pitches caused some confusion in the top of the fourth. Rousselle appeared to pop out to first base but was brought back to the plate to continue her at-bat. The Kennebunk High School product too advantage of her second chance, smacking a double up the middle that scored Lampert to tie the game at 3-3.
The seesaw battle ended in the bottom of the fifth when Southern Maine broke it open. Voth reached on a ground ball to short that resulted in an error to start things off. Rideout then bunted for an infield single. Sloan Scotvold sizzled a single up the middle that drove in Voth and sent the runners to second and third on a relay throw that was off the mark.
Rideout was nearly picked off of third base but was able to work her way out of a rundown attempt. Ariana Cross took advantage to bring both runners home on a fly ball to center that Lampert could not hold onto. Carly Youngblood wrapped up the scoring with a sacrifice fly that plated Cross for a 7-3 lead.
Central Maine got a runner on via walk in both the sixth and seventh but could not find a hit to get things going. Dionne closed out the victory in the circle for Southern Maine with a six-strikeout performance.
"It's been good having everyone stay up and positive throughout all our games," said Rousselle afterwards. "Even when we were down, everyone in the dugout was cheering loud and that definitely helps. I know me as a pitcher, just knowing my team has my back even though we don't always make the plays we want, that's something we should continue. I'm already looking forward to next season. We've got some good recruits coming in and our foundation is solid. I think next fall is going to be pretty good for us."
"I want to thank the seniors for their leadership and for them laying the bricks in the foundation of our program," Wilcox said. "I wish them well in their future endeavors and I hope they come back to support us. I'm looking forward to what the future holds for this program. We will all work hard to come back stronger next fall and continue to build from there. I appreciate all the work my assistant coaches put in each and every day. I couldn't do it without them."
UMA ended up defeating SMCC in the championship game, 13-9. With no All-Conference selections, teams participating in each contest had the chance to select a "Player of the Game" who was honored on the field with a plaque and postgame interview. Melody Rousselle was CMCC's choice from game one, with Ava Dionne being selected by SMCC. In the championship game, UMA went with Aubrey Peer after their victory while SMCC chose Hayley Cowan.
The Small College World Series will begin on May 11th, with the USCAA selection show to announce the competing teams taking place on Monday, May 4th at 12:30 pm ET.
