LEWISTON — Mt. Ararat had its back against the wall on Thursday.
However, a four-run rally with one out in the top of the seventh gave the Eagles a 7-4 victory over Lewiston at Joseph Deschenes Field at Lewiston High School.
It was the Eagles’ (1-13) first regular-season victory of the season.
“In the beginning (of the season), we were down on ourselves because we were losing,” junior Audrey Nile said. “To come back like this — it’s really great for the team.”
Lewiston (2-12) assistant coach Jeff Nadeau — head coach Ryan Cormier wasn’t feeling well and missed the game — said the Blue Devils put the bat on the ball but mostly right to the infielders and outfielders.
“Unfortunately, that was our nemesis today; we were finally making contact — they were right to their fielders,” Nadeau said. “They didn’t really have to move. If we were able to get it to the left or right, a little bit shorter, it might have been a different ball game.”
Down 4-3 in the top of the seventh, Libby Rhoades reached on an infield single and then advance to third on an error that got Alex Durant on base. After a Kenndey Lampert flyout, Rhoades scored on an error to tie the game.
Audrey Niles sent the ball to the right-center for a three-run, inside-the-park home run for a 7-4 advantage.
“It’s the second time I have ever done that,” Niles said of the inside-the-park homer. “It’s great to know all my hard work is paying off.”
Lewiston had a chance in the bottom of the seventh when Jersey Cunningham started the inning with a single to left field, but she got stranded at second base as Aubrey Pees grounded out to end the game.
“We had some key hits,” Nadeau said. “We had a close play at first and we could have had two on, but once again, you tip your hat to Mt. Ararat because the shortstop — Aubrey hit it on the button — made a great diving stop.”
Both teams struggled to get a hit off either starter for the first four innings. Mt. Ararat’s rally in the fifth started with two outs when Durant singled off Lewiston’s Ava Dionne to left field and later stole second. Lampert’s line-drive shot down the right-field line scored Durant and Lampert came around to score on an inside-the-park homer for a 2-0 lead.
“The girls have all season had a good stick-with-it attitude of next pitch, next at-bat, next inning,” Mt. Ararat coach Terri Tlumac said.
Paige Bell reached on an infield single and later scored on Nile’s triple for a 3-0 lead. Nile tried for a second inside-the-park homer of the inning, but she was out at home.
Niles said she thought she beat the tag.
“I swear I was,” Niles said. “I was just a little slower, got down on myself, but I came back from it with an actual homer.”
Lewiston responded in the bottom of the fifth when Ava Dionne reached third on an error by the left fielder. Juliet Philippon’s infield single off Mt. Ararat starter Lilly Stewart brought Dionne in for the Blue Devils’ first run. With Philippon at second, Cunningham’s single brought her in, cutting the deficit to 3-2.
“We are always learning. We are always growing and trying to be better,” Tlumac said of the errors in the fifth. “We came back with the bats, so it was a nice turnaround.”
Cunningham later scored on an error to tie the game and Aubrey Wood scored on a fielder’s choice, giving Lewiston a 4-3 advantage.
“The girls did really well being down 3-0 and put four on the board to take the lead,” Nadeau said. “Hats off to (Mt.) Ararat; they found the line a couple of times and got some drops in and got some key hits in big situations.”
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