AUBURN — Sydney Dick hit into a fielder’s choice to push home Bella Perryman for the winning run in the ninth inning as St. Dominic Academy beat North Yarmouth Academy 8-7 in a Class D South softball semifinal on Saturday.
The sixth-seeded Saints (7-9) rode the arm of Kathleen Dean, who pitched all nine innings and struck out 10.
“She’s our only pitcher, so we rely on her a lot. She works on pitching year-round and she’s our bread and butter,” St. Dom’s coach Abigail Bowie said. “It’s really awesome, she was hitting her spots and her pitches were working.”
The Saints entered the bottom of the fifth inning trailing 4-1. They plated a pair of runs and then Perryman hit a two-run home run over the left-field fence to give St. Dom’s a 5-4 lead.
“She’s been in a hitting slouch so the home run was huge,” Bowie said. “I kind of said to choke up and swing and it worked out.”
The seventh-seeded Panthers (9-10) forced extra innings with a run in the seventh that tied the game at 5-5. The Panthers tacked on two more runs in the top of the ninth for a 7-5 lead.
Bella Webster started the Saints’ ninth-inning rally with a walk, and then Ava Apodaca and Perryman also reached safely, and all three eventually scored.
“Everyone contributed and that’s all you can ask for in the playoffs,” Bowie said.
Acadia Gee led NYA with three hits. Jasmine Huntsman added a single and a double.
St. Dom’s will face top-seeded Searsport (11-6) in the D South final Wednesday at St. Joseph’s College in Standish.
FRYEBURG 6, GRAY-NEW GLOUCESTER 3: Camden Jones went 3 for 4 and fueled a three-run rally in the fifth inning with a home run, leading the top-seeded Raiders (14-3) past the fifth-seeded Patriots (14-5) in a Class B South semifinal in Fryeburg.
Ela Bruno’s two-run single in the third inning gave Fryeburg a 2-0 lead. Gray-New Gloucester tied it with runs in the fourth and fifth before the Raiders went ahead for good in the bottom of the fifth.
Gray-New Gloucester got three hits from Morgan Curtis and two from Anna Gilbert.
Fryeburg advances to face No. 2 Cape Elizabeth in the regional final Wednesday at St. Joseph’s College.
BASEBALL
BANGOR 5, EDWARD LITTLE 3: The fifth-seeded Rams (12-6) scored two runs late and were able to hold off the eighth-seeded Red Eddies (11-7) in a Class A North semifinal in Bangor.
With the game tied 3-3, Bangor’s Max Clark swung at the first pitch he saw and connected for a deep double, which was followed by Colton Trisch’s single that brought Clark home for the go-ahead run. Later in the inning, Luke Missbrenner drove in another run with a sacrifice fly to put Bangor up 5-3.
Edward Little’s Campbell Cassidy pitched the first four innings and gave up three runs. At the plate, Cassidy singled in the fifth and then scored on a Patrick Anthoine double. Anthoine finished with three hits for the Red Eddies.
Edward Little coach Dave Jordan said that the Red Eddies stranded seven runners in scoring position, while Bangor only left two.
A double killed EL’s run in the sixth inning and a great catch in the outfield by Bangor’s Clark finished the win.
Clark and Ryan Howard both had two hits for the Rams.
BOYS LACROSSE
WELLS 18, MARANACOOK/WINTHROP/SPRUCE MOUNTAIN 3: The third-seeded Warriors (10-4) jumped out to a 9-0 lead after one quarter and eliminated the sixth-seeded Hawks (8-6) in a Class C quarterfinal at Wells.
Preston Briggs scored eight goals to lead Wells, which will visit No. 2 Oak Hill/Monmouth/Lisbon for a semifinal on Wednesday. Nathan Bolduc added four goals, Gavyn Petrie tallied three. Connor Woodward, Connor Whitten and Eli Steere each scored once.
“They got up two or three goals and our guys were thrown back by it, and I think once they got a lead, our guys got down on themselves,” Maranacook/Winthrop/Spruce Mountain coach Kyle Dennett said. “We weren’t able to recover from 9-0 after the first quarter. They had a really good game and they had a lot of guys that did good things.”
Tim Worster scored two goals and Wyatt Lyons got one for the Hawks.
“We knew they had some guys that they were go-to guys and we tried to minimize the damage they did on the offensive side,” Dennett said. “On our offensive side, we tried to come out ready to go. They came ready to play and wanted it more than us.”
NYA 11, GRAY-NEW GLOUCESTER 2: Chris Hamblett scored four goals to lead the No. 4 Panthers (9-4) past the fifth-seeded Patriots (7-7) in a Class C quarterfinal at Yarmouth.
Brayden Warde added three goals, Caleb Waterman had two goals and three assists, and Chas Rohde also scored twice. The Panthers will travel to top-seeded Waynflete for a semifinal on Wednesday.
Sam Tibbetts made 11 saves for Gray-New Gloucester.
GIRLS LACROSSE
MARANACOOK/WINTHROP 20, LINCOLN 5: Seven players scored as Maranacook/Winthrop took the Class C quarterfinal win in Readfield.
No. 2 Maranacook/Winthrop will host No. 3 Waynflete for a semifinals game at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Maranacook/Winthrop led 12-1 at the half. Ella Delisle had seven goals, while Addie Watson and Ashley Deshamp each added four goals.
FREEPORT 18, ST. DOMINIC 9: Savannah Tracy and Meredith Feller each had four goals to lead the top-seeded Falcons (10-3) over the eighth-ranked Saints (6-8) in a Class C quarterfinal in Freeport.
Kate Tracy added three goals and four assists, Megan Driscoll had three goals and an assist and Hannah Groves finished with two goals and an assist. Ellie Whittier and Myah Jensen also scored and Piper Williams made three saves for Freeport.
Isabella Pelletier and Taryn Cloutier each had four goals and Natalie Russell stopped 12 shots for St. Dominic.
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