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BANGOR – Opposing pitching isn’t usually a problem for the hard-hitting Bangor softball team.
But in Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class A semifinal against Lawrence, the Rams ran into Joy Ireland.
The Bulldogs’ junior pitcher delivered, striking out 12 and holding No. 1 Bangor to four hits for a 4-2 Lawrence victory. The No. 4 Bulldogs of Fairfield will face No. 7 Skowhegan for the Eastern Maine championship 7 p.m. Wednesday at Coffin Field in Brewer.
Lawrence goes to 12-2, including a win over Skowhegan, while the Rams wrap up their season with a 15-3 record.
Ireland certainly kept Bangor off-balance. She struck out all but one spot in the order at least once, and fanned four batters twice each.
“She pitched a great game,” Rams coach Lisa Richards said. “She was the difference. Her location was good, she changed them up well, and kept us guessing.”
Ireland has six pitches in her repertoire but stuck mainly with a fastball and a rise.
“I was trying to throw strikes, getting them to swing at everything and let my defense do the work,” Ireland said. “The rise worked well today.”
While Ireland was firing pitches, Jen Lane was pounding out big hits despite having spent Friday night dealing with a bout of the flu. She went 2-for-4 with a double and a single and drove in three runs, including the eventual game-winner in the fifth inning.
Lane had runners on first and second when she stepped to the plate with two outs in the fifth. She drove the first pitch she saw down the left field line, allowing Nikki Manzo and Lesley Freese to score.
“I just saw one I wanted to hit,” Lane said. “Thank God it went in fair and got two people around.”
Lane also doubled in the first to score Stacey Dostie. Dostie had an RBI single that plated Lesley Freese, who had walked to lead off the game.
Bangor rallied for two runs in the sixth keyed by a Jen Jimmo leadoff single and a follow-up single by Rachael Dube. But the Rams stranded runners at first and second in the first and fourth innings.
Jimmo moved to third on Dube’s hit into right field – the only ball Ireland allowed out of the infield – and scored on an Amanda Johnson groundout that also put Dube at second. Dube advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch.
“There was no way we were going to get shut out,” Richards said. “I would have liked to come up with some hits a little earlier, but they made the defensive plays they had to with runners on. … I’m proud of my kids. I’m proud of the season we had.”
Kerri Tuck and Shelby Soohey each singled for Bangor.
Soohey pitched five innings and picked up the loss for Bangor. She allowed four hits and walked one with no strikeouts.
Bulldogs 4, Rams 2
Lawrence (12-2) Bangor (15-3)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
Freese, ss 3 2 0 0 Tuck, 3b 3 0 0
Rogers, c 3 0 1 0 Jimmo, 2b-p 3 1 0
Dostie, 3b 4 1 1 1 Dube, c 3 1 1 0
Lane, 1b 4 0 2 3 Huckins, 1b 2 0 0
b-Gurney 0 0 0 0 Soohey, p 2 0 0
Ireland, p 4 0 0 0 a-Wright 0 0 0
Lindie, dh 2 0 0 0 Johnson, 2b 1 0 1
Hanscom, rf 0 0 0 0 Warner, cf 2 0 0
Poulin, lf 3 0 0 0 Holland, dh 3 0 0
Miller, cf 3 0 1 0 M. Chase, lf 0 0 0
Manzo, 2b 3 1 1 0 Smith, lf 3 0 0
Tower, ss 3 0 0 0
Totals 29 4 6 4 Totals 25 2 4 1
a-ran for Soohey in the fourth; b-ran for Lane in the seventh
Lawrence 200 020 0?4
Bangor 000 002 0?2
E?Dube, Soohey; LOB?Lawrence 7, Bangor 4; 2B?Lane; S?Rogers; SB?Miller
Lawrence IP H R ER BB SO
Ireland (W, 12-2) 7 4 2 0 2 12
Bangor IP H R ER BB SO
Soohey (L, 7-1) 5 4 4 2 1 1
Jimmo 2 2 0 0 1 0
WP?Ireland; PB?Rogers 2; Dube 2; T?1:32; ATT?150 (est.)
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