FREEPORT — Freeport and Poland played to a 5-5 tie in five innings in Western Maine Conference softball Monday before a brief heavy rainstorm left the field at Hunter Road Fields unplayable and the game was halted and declared a tie.

“Look at the fields, we can’t continue to play on that. The umpires called it,” Freeport coach Jason Daniel said, pointing to puddles of water surrounding home plate. “Sure, we would have like to have won, it was right there for the taking, but we played a really good game against an excellent team.”

Freeport jumped out to a quick lead in the second inning, plating three runs behind four hits. Sarah Gray led off the frame with a single, followed by a base knock from Annie Kelley and a walk to Abbye Koenig to load the bases.

The next batter, freshman Brook Pawlowski, hit a single to left field, advancing the runners a base. Brooke Toothaker followed with another RBI single and Abby Brier hit a sacrifice fly to score Koenig. Poland starter Ally Gagne induced an Alexys Langley pop up to the catcher to strand a pair.

“We have to be confident at the plate and be on top of the ball,” Daniel said. “We needed to get some runs, which we did there, but it really would have helped to push across another one or two.”

Freeport starter Alexa Koenig kept the Poland hitters in check over the first three innings. A first-inning two-out single by Poland’s Emma Bunyea was quickly erased when Langley threw her out attempting to steal second.

Koenig allowed a base hit in the second, but again worked out of a jam strand two more runners by getting a pair of groundouts to end the second. She retired the Knights, one-two-three in the third.

“She pitched an incredible game,” Daniel said. “She’s the type of player that in the past didn’t want to pitch, and I set her aside this year and said, ‘You need to step up,’ and she has.”

The Falcons (5-7-1) tacked on another run in the third inning after Alexa Koenig was hit by a pitch and Gray’s second single put two runners on. Freshman Jaclyn Burke brought home the runner from third on a groundout to give Freeport a 4-0 lead.

Poland pitcher Karley O’Leary, who replaced Gagne at the top of the frame, fanned the final two Falcons, stranding a runner on third.

POLAND STRIKES BACK

The Knights (8-4-1) struck back in the fourth, tying the score with four runs on two hits and a Freeport error.

Bunyea led off the frame with a hit before Alexa Koenig fanned the next two batters. A pair of walks led to a two-run single by Gagne to cut the deficit to 4-2. An infield error on the next batter pushed across two more runs to tie the score.

“Defensively, we have a really good team. We just sometimes have a play or two that lets us down,” Daniel said. “If we make a play there, we still have a two-run lead after the inning.”

As the rain began to fall in the bottom of the fourth, a leadoff single by Pawlowski was erased on a double play to end the inning.

Poland took the lead in the fifth after Bunyea reached base with her third hit of the contest and came around to score on a couple of wild pitches.

Alexa Koenig hit a one-out triple in the fifth, sliding into third base just ahead of a throw by Poland’s Shelby Lafrinea from deep left field. Gray then hit a ground ball to second and Koenig once again beat the throw and the Falcons evened the score at 5-5.

O’Leary stranded two Falcons, first by catching a line drive and then forcing a fly out to right to end the inning.

That’s about when the rain became heavy and many puddles formed in the infield, prompting a meeting between the coaches and umpires, where the officials called the game.

Conversations were then held among school officials, and according to the rules, the game was called a tie.

“I looked at the rules and talked with both the home plate umpire and my AD, and a game becomes official due to weather after five innings. We were tied, so the game ends that way,” Daniel said.

Poland’s Bunyea finished with three hits while scoring two runs. Ally Gagne went two innings on the mound, giving up three runs, surrendering four hits, while striking out two and walking one. Karley O’Leary pitched three innings, struck out three and allowed two runs.

Gray and Pawlowski each finished with two hits for the Falcons, while Alexa Koenig went the distance on the hill, giving up three earned runs, scattering six hits, striking out four hitters and walking two.

“Again, I’m really proud of these girls. We just had that let down in that one inning. They (Poland) have run ruled us a lot the last five years, today we came to play,” Daniel said. “I have a lot of respect for Kayla (Vannah, Poland co-head coach) as I’ve learned a lot from her and to play a tight game against one her teams just shows how Freeport is coming along.”

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