GORHAM — Ana Lang did it all for Searsport.
The junior pitcher struck out 13 and drove in the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning to life the top-seeded Vikings into the Class D championship game with a 1-0 win over St. Dom’s in Tuesday’s D South final at the University of Southern Maine.
Lang singled home Baileigh Bagley for the game’s only run, finally settling a pitching duel between she and St. Dominic Academy starter Kathleen Dean.
“Previous at-bats (Dean) was throwing first-pitch strikes to everybody, and we knew that was something we could take to our advantage, as well as second pitches were outside,” Lang said.
Lang struck out 19 batters in the Vikings’ 7-1 victory over the Saints in last year’s regional final.
Christin Obrey said they entered Tuesday’s rematch expecting a battle from the Saints.
“It’s always a challenge for both teams, especially when we played them before, especially at this level,” Obrey said. “Just be ready for it and be prepared.”
St. Dom’s coach Scott Berube said that Tuesday’s performance proved how good the Saints were in 2022.
“The girls had a great season, and today’s game reflects all the hard work they put into this season,” Berube said. “We got (to play an) extra inning and battled right down to the end. I am proud of all of them.”
HARD-EARNED HITS
With Lang and Dean so effective from the circle, hits were hard to come by.
The second-seeded Saints (15-2) had the first hit of the contest, in the top of the second, when Isabella Webster laid a perfect bunt right in front of the plate and beat the throw at first, but St. Dom’s couldn’t capitalize.
Kassidy Cote laid another successful bunt for the Saints in the top of the third, placing the ball between the third baseman and Lang. Later in the inning, Izzy McMillen, inserted as a courtesy runner for Cote, was called out for leaving first base early. Ava Apodaca reached first on a walk and took second on a passed ball but was stranded there.
Bagley recorded the Vikings’ (14-4) first hit in the bottom of the third with a poke to right field for a single. The next batter, Kyra Perkins, struck out, and Saints catcher Cami Casserly threw out Bagley at second on the play to end the inning.
Dean’s best work came in the bottom of the fourth.
Lang started the inning with a single to right field and then stole second base. After Dean struck out Laura Warman for the first out, a Jordan Greeley’s infield single sent Lang to third. Greeley took second when the third baseman misplayed the ball. Hunter Kronholm then reached first on an error to load the bases with only one out.
Dean struck out the next two batters to end the inning.
“(Dean) had a super game the whole game,” Berube said. “She hit her spots, (Casserly) was phenomenal, and our defense was absolutely solid. It held that team to one run. It took them eight innings to score one run.”
Dean got in a groove and retired the next 10 batters. She finished with 11 strikeouts and allowed six hits.
After Lang sat down 11 St. Dom’s batters in a row, Casserly got on base with two outs in the top of the seventh and reached second on a throwing error. She took third base on a passed ball, but an unsuccessful bunt attempt with two strikes ended the threat.
“Pitching was scary because if I had thrown something down the middle or something goes wrong, one swing, that ball can go over the fence,” Lang said.
St. Dom’s had seven unsuccessful bunt attempts that were pop-outs. Berube said that he felt bunting was the best course of action.
“We popped up too many bunts, if those had gone the other direction, we would of put more people on base and pushed it a little more,” Berube said. “It just didn’t go that way, and sometimes that happens.”
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