BY SAPNA PATHAK
Kathy Boudreau knew what she wanted: she wanted to face Auburn, the same team that beat her squad in last year’s state softball championship; she wanted a close, competitive battle that would come down to the last out; and she wanted her team to come away with a win.
She’ll have to settle for two out of three.
“After we lost to them (on Tuesday, July 17), the girls came to practice the next day and said, ‘We want Auburn again,’” said Boudreau, manager of the Lamprey River Little League softball all-stars. “But after Saturday’s (July 21) win, I knew (this) would be a (tight) game. I just knew it.”
After beating the defending state champion, 12-2, three days earlier, Lamprey River dropped a nine-inning marathon on Tuesday, July 24, 13-11, to the now two-time state majors division softball champs.
Auburn struck first, scoring a run in the top of the first. Lamprey River answered with two in the bottom of the frame. Led by Candia’s Olivia Vincent, batting second, Lamprey River added four runs in the bottom of the second, Vincent scoring once.
“Everyone was freaking out because we’d heard Auburn was so tough to beat,” said Candia’s Maddie Alton. “But then we kept coming back, and they kept going ahead and it was really close. The whole dugout was really nervous.”
The next inning, Auburn tightened the score, 6-5, behind a Sarah Cote single and an RBI single that landed Kayla Komaridis at third thanks to speedy and smart baserunning.
Auburn starter Faith Robinson took the mound, allowing Lamprey River a 9-5 advantage before Auburn evened the score, 9-9, in the top of the fourth.
That’s when things got exciting.
The visitors went ahead, 10-9, after Aubrey Horner and Cote smacked back-to-back singles and Horner came around on Komaridis’ RBI. Robinson, normally manager Ray Pelton’s No. 3 hurler, then pitched her way out of a bases-loaded no-out jam in the bottom of the sixth, forcing the game into extra innings.
Robinson showed more late-game poise when Lamprey River again loaded the bags with no outs in the bottom of the seventh and eighth. Taking the mound with a 13-11 lead in the ninth, Robinson came back to strike out Lamprey’s final two batters, her last pitch a called-strike fastball on a 3-2 count.
“Oh, man, I was nervous,” said a relieved Robinson. “When it was a full count, I just wanted to get in and throw strikes. I want to play high school and college softball, so I should learn how to play in big games.”
The remainder of Auburn’s championship roster, which earned a trip to Albany, N.Y., for regional competition beginning Saturday, July 28, includes Taylor Fernando, Kathryn O’ Niel, Katie Pelton, Kelsea Kehoe, Taylor Boyd, Griffen Blais, Leah Trickett, Savanah Lavoie and Paige Tobin.