Richard fills a rush order for Indians Pinch-hit RBI groundout gets Old Town by Eagles

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OLD TOWN – Emelie Richard was on the hill behind the Old Town softball team’s dugout when she heard coach Mike Thurston calling for her in the fourth inning of Saturday’s game. She jumped down the wall next to the dugout and grabbed a bat.

Richard had time for a few quick cuts in the air before stepping to the plate and finding a runner at third base in a 2-2 game.

“It kind of hit me as a surprise,” said the senior, who filled in at the catcher spot during the preseason, but will likely see time as a pinch hitter this year. “I just try to keep my head in my swing, think about strikes and balls, not worry about the outs or the baserunners.”

With little time to prepare to face Ellsworth pitcher Ashley Dugas, Richard hit a ground ball to third and was thrown out at first. But just putting the ball in play was enough, as Sarah Metivier sprinted home for the winning run in a 3-2 season-opening victory for Old Town.

The Eagles (1-1) had scored in the top of the fourth to tie the game at 2-2.

Metivier opened the bottom of the inning by reaching first on an error and advanced on a sacrifice by Liz Saucier. Metivier went for third while the defense was throwing out Saucier and slid in safely when Ellsworth’s third baseman missed the tag. That set up Richard’s RBI groundout.

That kind of scoring – stealing, advancing on wild pitches and passed balls, legging out extra bases – was necessary for the Indians’ offense because their normally high-powered hitting wasn’t as sharp.

“We have a philosophy to be really aggressive on the bases and that worked today,” Thurston said. “We know we don’t always hit as hard as we can all the time so we have to make up some runs here and there.”

Metivier also picked up the pitching victory. The senior threw a two-hitter with five strikeouts and two walks, and allowed just one baserunner in the final three innings.

Metivier’s biggest out may have come in the seventh when, with just the one-run lead and one out in the inning, Ellsworth’s Holly Tripp stepped in. Tripp, a hard-hitting lefty who was already 2-for-2 with a double, single and two RBIs, worked the count to 2-1 before grounding out.

Thurston considered having Mary Wollstadt, who throws lefthanded, face Tripp. But he decided he felt confident leaving in Metivier.

“I almost threw [Wollstadt] in as lefty against lefty, a change of pace, but when you have a senior on the mound the quality of Sarah and you’re ahead a run, you just go with the flow,” he said.

Ellsworth put up the first run of the game in the second inning. Jodie Merchant drew a leadoff walk and scored on a Tripp double to left-center. Merchant scored the Eagles’ other run in the top of the fourth when she walked, advanced on a flyout and scored on Tripp’s single.

Old Town’s Jill Ouellette singled and drove in Saucier and Renee Thibodeau walked and scored on an error in the third to take a 2-1 lead in the third.

Dugas scattered five hits, walked four and struck out one in the loss.

“Ashley’s done a real nice job,” Ellsworth coach Lorne Guy said. “This should be a real boost to her confidence today. When the girls play good defense behind her she should be real tough to hit.”

INDIANS 3, EAGLES 2

Ellsworth (1-1) Old Town (1-0)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Miller, 2b 3 0 0 0 Ouellette, cf 4 0 1

Buckingham, dh 3 0 0 0 Thibodeau, 2b 2 1 0

Silsby, ss 3 0 0 0 Paul, ss 3 0 0

Merchant, 3b 1 2 0 0 King, c 2 0 0 0

Roberts, rf 3 0 0 0 Garrity, lf 3 0 1

Tripp, c 3 0 2 2 Sherman, rf 3 0 0

Bickford, lf 2 0 0 0 Metivier, p 3 1 0

c-Rausch 0 0 0 0 b-Jones 0 0 0 0

Saunders, 1b 2 0 0 0 Saucier, 3b 1 1 0

Patten, cf 2 0 0 0 Swandal, 1b 1 0 0

a-Richard 1 0 0 1

Wollstadt, 1b 1 0 0 0

Totals 22 2 2 2 Totals 24 3 5 3

a-grounded out for Swandal in the fourth; b-ran for Metivier in the sixth; c-walked for Bickford in the seventh

Ellsworth 010 100 0 ? 2

Old Town 002 100 x ? 3

E?Silsby 2, Tripp; LOB?Ellsworth 2, Old Town 7; 2B?Tripp; S?Saucier; SB?Jones

Ellsworth IP H R ER BB SO

Dugas (L, 0-1) 6 5 3 1 4 1

Old Town IP H R ER BB SO

Metivier (W, 1-0) 7 2 2 2 3 5

WP?Dugas 3; Metivier 2; PB? Tripp 2; King 1; T?1:14; ATT?125 (est.)