AUBURN — When Karli Stubbs’ double sailed into the air, howling winds got a hold of ball and sent it tumbling deep into left field.

The ball rolled to the fence, bringing home a scrambling Grace Beaudet, who got on with walk, with Edward Little High School’s first run in the fourth inning.

 

Stubbs’ double broke the ice and the No. 4 Red Eddies (12-5) found their groove, leaving wind-swept Auburn Suburban with a 4-0 victory over No. 5 Cony (11-6) in a Class A North quarterfinal Thursday.

 

“She pitched outside the past few ones and I got one down the middle and just went with it,” Stubbs said. “We got runners on in previous innings, so we knew we had to get it done. 

 

“It was just a good win, overall. It was a rough first few innings, but once we got over that bump, it was smooth sailing.”

 

The Red Eddies move on to face No. 1 Messalonskee (16-0-1) in the semifinals on Saturday.

 

The fourth inning began with Beaudet getting on with a walk and coming home on Stubbs’ blast.

 

The Red Eddies were just warming up, despite the cold. Stubbs moved to third on Madison Thistlewaite’s sacrifice bunt and came home on Olivia Jensen’s sacrifice bunt to give EL a 2-0 lead. Thistlewaite also made two impressive catches in the outfield.

 

Edward Little’s offense picked up where it left off in the fifth inning, too

 

Jordyn Reynolds was hit by a pitch and eventually moved to second on a passed ball. She came home on Kyle Bureau’s RBI single with EL’s third run. Bureau stole second base and got to third on Beaudet’s single. Stubbs hit into a fielder’s choice to the second baseman and was thrown out at first, but this gave Bureau the opportunity to come home with EL’s  fourth run.

 

Winning pitch Sarah Hammond played heads-up defense all day and threw a four-hit shutout, striking out five.

 

Hammond got herself out of a sixth-inning jam with the bases loaded. With Cony’s Allee Cloutier holding up at third, Hammond’s wild pitch got by catcher Emmy Lashua, who got back to the ball and sent it over to Hammond, who was there at the plate for the putout. Hammond then got the second out when Kassidy Turgeon hit a grounder to her.

 

“I just knew that Emily would be there. She hustles back there. I was there and it was a good play,” Hammond explained. 

 

For the day, Stubbs singled, doubled and scored a run. Beaudet also had two hits. Lashua also singled and doubled.

 

“We haven’t played since May 27. We had two weeks to really focus on our hittng,” EL coach Elaine Derosby said. “They have made the adjustments we’ve asked, and today, that showed. 

 

“You know, Cony is a great team Their shortstop (Autumn Sudsbury) I think is one of the best shortstops in our league. She made some great plays there.”

 

But during the layoff, Derosby stressed to her Red Eddies to play their best in June and stay loose when playoffs roll around.

 

“Today, I moved myself to the dugout so I could be a kid,” Derosby said with a grin. “And at the same time, take the pressure off myself and to relieve pressure on them. We had fun in the dugout today.

 

“I don’t know what my coaches thought about it, but we just had fun in the dugout, laughing and giggling, and at this point, that is what it is for. That’s what I wanted to do for them at this point. I wanted it to be fun, loose and just be relaxed.”