BUCKSPORT – Except for an early loss to Class A Brewer, the Bucksport softball team hadn’t faced a test this season and had cruised to six straight wins.

Enter Ellsworth in Monday afternoon’s Eastern Maine Class B matchup at Wardwell Field. And contrary to what happened in the teams’ first game of the season, the Eagles were primed for a solid game against the always-tough Golden Bucks.

Ellsworth gave Bucksport all it could handle, taking a tied game into the sixth before a Brittany Damon RBI single pushed across the winning run for the Golden Bucks in the bottom of the sixth en route to a 3-2 victory.

The outcome left Ellsworth coach Lorne Guy encouraged by his team’s resiliency and Bucksport (7-1) wondering why it struggled to drive in baserunners and missed some standard defensive plays.

The final result also had the Bucks relieved at escaping with the win.

“I think during the game it became [a big game] for us,” said Bucksport senior Jana Richards, who doubled, scored and drove in a run. “We learned that teams aren’t going to roll over for us. There are teams out there that can beat us. It was good to be in that playoff kind of situation.”

After the Golden Bucks took a brief lead with two runs in the bottom of the third, Ellsworth responded with two runs in the top of the fourth.

Both Eagle runs were unearned due to Bucksport’s uncharacteristic fielding troubles. After Krystal Roberts singled and got to third on a Holly Tripp single and a stolen base, she came in on an error. The miscue put Tripp at third and she scored on a Morgan Buckingham single.

Then, the Golden Bucks left runners at second and third in its half of the fourth and went 3-and-out in the fifth.

“It definitely took us a little while to get going today,” Richards said. “But once we started to hit the fielding definitely got better.”

Bucksport’s Tara Tweedie scored the winning run in the sixth. She led off with a blast to center field that put her at second base. She advanced on a Kelly White single and scored on Damon’s infield hit. The Golden Bucks loaded up the bases with just one out but two flyouts ended the inning.

Ellsworth left the bases loaded in the top of the sixth. White, the Bucksport ace, struck out the final batter of the inning and finished the game with seven strikeouts and no walks.

The Eagles (5-3) served notice in their first at-bat as Tess Miller laid down a bunt single against White, who pitched a two-hitter and struck out eight in a win at Ellsworth last week.

“We’ve spent a lot of time talking about the big difference between respect and fear,” Guy said. “I think we’ve started to believe a bit. … Tess is a kid who’s not a typical leadoff hitter who will take a walk. She wants to hit and with her speed we let her do that.”

Ellsworth’s Mallory Patten threw a solid game despite earning her first loss of the season. One of Patten’s two strikeouts came in the fourth, in which the Bucks had runners on second and third. Patten got Jill Richards (Jana Richards’ sister) to foul off two straight pitches and swing at the final pitch of the inning.

GOLDEN BUCKS 3, EAGLES 2

Ellsworth (5-3) Bucksport (7-1)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Miller, 2b 4 0 1 0 Taylor, 2b 3 0 0

Silsby, ss 4 0 0 0 Ji. Richards, 3b 3 0

Roberts, rf 3 1 1 0 Ja. Richards, c 4 1 1

Merchant, 3b 3 0 2 0 Gordon, 3b 3 0 0

Tripp, c 3 1 1 0 Page, 1b 2 0 0

Bickford, cf 3 0 1 0 Tweedie, cf 3 1 0

Buckingham, dh 3 0 1 1 White, p 3 0

Saunders, 1b 3 0 0 0 B. Damon, rf 2 0 1

Dyer, lf 3 0 0 0 McAllian, lf 3 0 0

Totals 29 2 7 1 Totals 26 3 9 2

Ellsworth 000 200 0 ? 2

Bucksport 002 001 x ? 3

E?Roberts, Merchant; Taylor, Ja. Richards; LOB?Ellsworth 6, Bucksport 9; 2B?Ji. Richards, Ja. Richards, Tweedie; DP?Ja. Richards-Page; SB?Roberts; White, Taylor

Ellsworth IP H R ER BB SO

Patten (L,3-1) 6 9 3 2 3 2

Bucksport IP H R ER BB SO

White (W,5-1) 7 7 2 0 0 7

HBP?Taylor by Patten; PB?Tripp 2; T?1:03; ATT?85