WALES — Morse’s players their time, waiting for their chance to strike.
While the Shipbuilders waited to score, Oak Hill wasted chances to do the same.
Four innings of runners in scoring position translated to just one Raiders run. The Shipbuilders then tied the game in the fifth, and took the lead in a big way in the sixth before holding on in the seventh for a 9-4 victory in a Class B South softball quarterfinal on Thursday.
Neither offense found much success early. The second-seeded Raiders (13-4) had more chances, however. The No. 7 Shipbuilders (14-4) only had a two-out Hope Faulkingham single in the first and a two-out error that put Marissa Parks on in the fourth to their name.
In the same stretch, Oak Hill put runners in scoring position in every inning, but could only bring one of those runners home once.
Sadie Waterman led off the bottom of the third with a walk on a 3-2 pitch before stealing second, moving to third on a Charlotte Waterman ground out, then scoring on Kiera Young’s sacrifice bunt.
Young had been left stranded at second in the first after collecting the Raiders’ first hit, then Oak Hill left runners at second and third in the second. Those same two runners — cousins Abby and Hannah Nadeau — were left at first and second in the fourth.
“We just left too many stranded,” Oak Hill coach Allyson Collins said. “We couldn’t seem to get a key hit. We’d get hits to start, and then we just could not get them consecutively and across the plate.”
Despite the constant jams, Morse freshman pitcher Dory Kulis only had two singles and two walks on her record through those four innings.
“That’s pretty composed for a young girl,” Morse coach Wil Laffely said.
“I just settled in and basically figured out that, I knew I had a team behind that would make the plays when they hit the ball, which really helped,” Kulis said.
The Shipbuilders finally broke through against Oak Hill starter Sadie Waterman in the fifth. Kulis led off with a single off Young’s glove on a diving attempt at shortstop. A throwing error on Paige Faulkingham’s grounder then put runners at the corners.
Waterman was able to avoid damage while corralling Maddie Mitchell’s grounder, but Kulis was able to score on a wild pitch with Mikayla Rose at the plate. Rose nearly gave the Shipbuilders the lead, but Young gunned down Faulkingham at home on Rose’s grounder.
Morse loaded the bases, but Waterman got out of the jam with the game still tied 1-1.
Kulis set down the Raiders in order for the first time in the bottom of the frame, signaling a shift in the game’s momentum.
“Definitely gave us motivation to hit the ball and put more runs on the board,” Kulis said, “which is what we did.”
The ‘Builders’ big inning started with Charlotte Waterman making a running catch on a Parks liner to center. It was the third such catch Waterman made and her sixth put-out. So the Morse hitters started hitting hit somewhere other than center field.
Olivia Potter hit a single up the middle to start the rally. Kulis drew a walk and Paige Faulkingham followed with a fielder’s choice grounder that loaded the bases.
Pinch-runner Lilly Thibodeau was safe at home on Mitchell’s fielder’s choice grounder for the go-ahead run, but the Shipbuilders weren’t done. Rose singled to drive in two more runs, then Albertson was hit by a pitch to load the bases and knock Waterman out of the game. Charlotte Waterman took over and hit Sierra Wallace to bring home another run, then Hope Faulkingham singled to drive in three more runs — with an assist from an Oak Hill error. Parks brought the eighth and final run of the frame home with a sacrifice groundout.
“I think we were hitting it, but right at some people,” Laffely said. “And then I think we played a little bit of small ball to try to tie it, and then once we tie it then the bats started to come around. I think once they saw (Waterman) at least twice, then that third time they were ready.”
Collins called the inning “a meltdown.”
“Just one thing, one error leads to another, and it kind of just snowballs,” Collins said. “You have to hand it to them, they’re phenomenal hitters. And so it’s hard to play against a team like that. You have to be completely on, you can’t give them any extra outs. We gave them a couple extra outs, and they capitalized on it, and that’s what good teams do.”
In fitting fashion, the Raiders loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth, but weren’t able to get any runs out of it.
A last-ditch effort in the bottom of the seventh cut the deficit, but eight runs were too many to make up.
Sadie Waterman led off with a single, then stole second, moved to third on Charlotte Waterman’s groundout, and scored on an error. Young was the beneficiary of the error while batting, then she stole second and advanced to third on an errant throw on the steal attempt. Emma Hlister singled to drive in Young, and Abby Nadeau walked on a 3-2 pitch to end Kulis’ outing.
“I was definitely upset, but whatever you can do to win the game,” Kulis said.
Parks came on in relief and was greeted by an RBI single from Julia Ahlberg. But the junior, who traded off starts with Kulis all year, struck out Mahala Smith and got Hannah Nadeau to line out to Kulis, who secured the game-ending out by diving for Nadeau’s liner on the first-base line and making the catch just off the ground.
“That was pretty exciting,” Kulis said. “It was a moment of realization what just happened, and then it was really exciting to know that won the game.”
The Shipbuilders now advance to the regional semifinals, where they will face No. 3 Fryeburg Academy on the road.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
Oak Hill softball player Abby Nadeau straddles the bag and waits for a throw during Thursday’s Class B South quarterfinal in Wales. Morse’s Dory Kulis slides safely back to the bag. The visiting Shipbuilders won, 9-4.
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