Lewiston’s Abby Chartie sneaks past Edward Little’s Anna LeBlanc to get safely on first base during Monday afternoon’s matchup at Bates College. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal) (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)
LEWISTON — Monday marked the start of a new week for the Lewiston softball team, and that meant moving on from Friday’s no-hit loss to Skowhegan. The Blue Devils put that defeat behind them in a big way, getting hits, getting on base by any means necessary, and getting a win over rival Edward Little to get back on track.
Jordyn Rubin smacked two RBI doubles, Dani Cyr scattered three hits, and Lewiston handed the Red Eddies their first loss with a 6-0 KVAC Class A North victory at Lafayette Street Field.
“Friday’s loss could have carried over today, and the girls would not let that happen,” Lewiston coach Mike Child said. “They came out here and they just played tough, tough, tough.”
The Blue Devils (2-1) got their first hit in the first inning, but Jordan Mynahan’s single, which came after Rubin and Gemma Landry both reached on errors, was wasted. Red Eddies (2-1) pitcher Hannah Smith induced a pair of fielder’s choices — including a comebacker she fired home in time — to get out of a bases-loaded jam.
“We knew that it wasn’t going to hurt us that much,” Rubin said. “It was only the first inning, so there was a lot of game left. But we just made sure to make contact with the ball, and just play good defense, it would come back in the end and help us.”
Cyr gave her team time to get the offense in gear, firing a 1-2-3 first, and then striking out three in a row after allowing consecutive singles to Taylor Landry and Anna LeBlanc to start the second.
“Danielle is an experienced pitcher, she moved the ball around just enough,” EL coach Elaine Derosby said. “She’s not overpowering, but she moved the ball around to keep us on our toes.”
When Rubin came up again in the bottom of the second, she got the Blue Devils on the board. Skylar Gelinas walked with one out, then two batters later, Rubin lined a double down the third-base line to bring Gelinas home.
Mynahan reached on an error in the third to get the offense going for Lewiston again. Emily Mousseau hit a two-out single two batters later, and Mynahan went from first to third, which allowed her to score on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.
“It wasn’t the initial plays that really got to us today, it was the secondary plays. We have prided ourselves in the past on, ‘We’re always going to make the secondary play.’ And today that kind of bit us,” Derosby said. “Some of our errors were on those secondary plays, and we’ve got to get better at that, and we will.”
The Red Eddies came closest to scoring in the fourth, but Cyr recorded a strikeout for the final out of the inning after a Chantel Ouellette single and a Maddie Thistlewaite walk put runners at the corners.
“We talked about we can’t strike out eight times,” Derosby said. “Right now we’re averaging six strikeouts a game, and we’ve got to put the ball in play.”
The Lewiston batting order came back around for a third time in the fourth after No. 9 hitter Abby Chartier led off with a single. Rubin followed with another double to drive in a run, then a Landry infield single and a Meagan Gosselin sacrifice bunt put two runners in scoring position. Mynahan hit into an unsuccessful fielder’s choice, scoring two more runs and knocking Smith out of the game. She gave up six runs on six hits, with three strikeouts and two walks.
Ouellette took over in the circle and was greeted by a Cyr double, but she didn’t allow a runner past second the rest of the way.
Child called Rubin the “catalyst” to the Blue Devils’ offense.
“When she gets on, good things happen,” Child said.
The six-run cushion only helped Cyr, who issued a leadoff walk to Caroline Hammond in the fifth but retired the final nine batters.
“I don’t know how many strikeouts she had, I don’t know how many hits she gave up, I don’t care about that. I just know she came out and threw BBs, and the defense was behind her, and you can’t ask for any more than that,” Child said.
Edward Little’s Anna LeBlanc looks to catch the balls as Lewiston’s Jordan Mynahan charges first base during Monday afternoon’s matchup at Bates College. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Lewiston’s Jordan Mynahan slides into third base as Edward Little’s Abby Russell attempts to tag her out during Monday afternoon’s matchup at Bates College. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Lewiston’s Jordan Mynahan slides into home base for the run as Edward Little’s Hannah Smith fails to tag her out during Monday afternoon’s matchup at Bates College. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)
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