Brewer balance sweeps Wildcats Mix of youth, vets sparks wins

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BREWER – The Brewer softball team got a steady performance from its present, a good look at its future, and swept a doubleheader Saturday against Presque Isle at a windy Coffin Field.

Brewer got a timely double from junior Carolyn McAvoy to help take the opener against 4-1, then held off the Wildcats 5-3 in the second of two well-played games.

Senior pitcher Sherri Capponi picked up her eighth win of the season in the first game, while freshman Sarah DeFilipp earned a victory in the second game, which was her varsity debut.

“We knew we had to come into this game really strong and stay focused,” said McAvoy, who finished the doubleheader having driven in four of the team’s eight runs.

Brewer goes to 9-2 while the Wildcats fall to 4-7.

In the first game, Presque Isle took a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning. But the Witches, who lost 1-0 to Bangor Thursday, staged a rally in the bottom of the sixth.

DeFilipp opened with a line-drive single into right field. Her sister, senior Sandra DeFilipp, hit a bunt single to move Sarah to second, and after a flyout the younger DeFilipp came in on a Capponi single to center field to tie the game. Sandra DeFilipp and Capponi each moved up a base on a throw home, putting runners at second and third for McAvoy, who was 0-for-2 in the game to that point.

McAvoy slammed the first pitch into center field, plating the two runners. McAvoy went to third on the throw from the outfield and eventually scored on an error.

“We knew we had to step up in the bottom of the sixth,” McAvoy said. “We had to get going.”

Presque Isle had a chance in the seventh as Lauren Wildeman led off with a single and made it to second on a Marigan Bishop groundout, but Capponi (8-2) got a flyout and a strikeout to end the 59-minute game. The senior struck out four and didn’t walk a batter while allowing just three hits.

Wildeman picked up an RBI when she grounded out but drove in Sarah Belden, who had doubled and reached third on a Jessie Miller sacrifice. Belden also singled in the third.

“I thought we had that one for a while,” PI coach Alan Curtis said. “It was just that one inning that they scored. I’m very pleased. … We were just a couple of hits short.”

Presque Isle freshman Dani Grenier, who had thrown 14 innings Friday in a sweep of Nokomis of Newport, scattered five hits in the loss.

Grenier wasn’t especially fast but she did have good control and didn’t walk anyone. That threw off Brewer a bit, coming off the game against Bangor’s hard-throwing Jen Jimmo.

“It’s hard going from a fast pitcher to a slow pitcher,” McAvoy said. “We all just needed to adjust and hold back.”

In the second game, the Wildcats got out early again but couldn’t maintain the lead as Brewer took a 4-2 lead with three runs in the bottom of the second.

This game belonged to Sarah DeFilipp, who gave up four hits, struck out four, walked one and either made or assisted with seven putouts.

DeFilipp’s changeup was especially effective.

“As the game progressed she gained a little more confidence and she threw her changeup better,” Curtis said. “It’s easier to pitch when you have that two-run lead.”

She picked up a key strikeout in the bottom of the sixth as the Wildcats threatened. Michelle Post had already driven in Bailly Hovey to cut the lead to 4-3 and PI had runners at first and second when DeFilipp struck out pinch-hitter Kelly McHatten to end the inning.

“I just tried to focus in on the strike zones and the zones that [catcher Rachel Wing] gave me,” Sarah DeFilipp said.

The top of Presque Isle’s order went down in the seventh on two groundouts and a flyout.

Sarah DeFilipp was also responsible for a sixth-inning insurance run. She drew a one-out walked and after singles by Sandra DeFilipp and Amy Freeman, Sarah DeFilipp scampered home from third on a throwing error.

“She’s a gamer,” Brewer coach Kelly Cookson said of the freshman. “She’s a competitor. She’s going to play like that no matter what game I put her in.”

McAvoy was 2-for-3 with two singles and two RBIs. She drove in the actual game-winning run on an RBI single that plated Amy Freeman in the second inning. Capponi also singled twice and added an RBI in the second.

Wildeman and Bishop each drove in a run in the first inning.

WITCHES 4, WILDCATS 1

(Saturday’s First Game)

Presque Isle Brewer

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Belden, c 3 1 2 0 San. DeFilipp, cf 3 0

Miller, cf 2 0 0 0 A. Freeman, 2b 3 0 0

Wildeman, 3b 3 0 1 0 Capponi, p 3 1 1

b-Nadeau 0 0 0 0 a-Godley 0 0 0

Bishop, dh 3 0 0 0 McAvoy, ss 3 1 2

Hovey, lf 3 0 0 0 Whalen, dh 3 0 0

Putnam, 1b 3 0 0 0 Wolfe, 3b 0 0 0

Gahagan, rf 1 0 0 0 McLaughlin, rf 3 0 0

Post, ss 2 0 0 0 Coutts, 1b 3 0 0

Dyer, 2b 2 0 0 0 Wing, c 2 0 0 0

Sar. DeFilipp, lf 2 1 0

Totals 22 1 3 0 Totals 25 4 5 3

a-ran for Capponi in the fourth; b-ran for Wildeman in the seventh

Presque Isle 100 000 0?1

Brewer 000 004 x? 4

E?Putnam; LOB?Presque Isle 2, Brewer 3; 2B?Belden; McAvoy; S?Miller

Presque Isle IP H R ER BB SO

Grenier (L, 2-3) 6 5 4 3 0 1

Brewer IP H R ER BB SO

Capponi (W, 8-2) 7 3 1 1 0 4

HBP?Gahagan by Capponi; T?:59; ATT?75 (est.)

WITCHES 5, WILDCATS 3

(Saturday’s Second Game)

Presque Isle (4-7) Brewer (9-2)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Belden, c 3 1 1 0 San. DeFilipp, cf 3 0

Miller, p-cf 4 1 1 0 A. Freeman, 2b 3 1 0

Wildeman, 3b 3 0 1 1 Capponi, 1b-3b 4 0 1

a-Nadeau 0 0 0 0 McAvoy, ss 3 0 2

Bishop, dh 3 0 1 1 Whalen, rf 2 0 0

Hamel, rf 0 0 0 0 McLaughlin, lf 3 0 0

Hovey, lf 2 1 0 0 Godley, dh 3 1 0

Putnam, 1b 3 0 0 0 b-Baker 1 0 0 0

Jones, 2b 3 0 0 0 Wing, c 0 0 0 0

Post, ss 3 0 1 1 Wolfe, 3b 1 0 0

Gahagan, cf 1 0 0 0 Coutts, 1b 1 0 0

Grenier, p 1 0 0 0 Sar. DeFilipp, p 1 1

c-McHatten 1 0 0 0

Totals 27 3 5 3 Totals 26 5 7 4

a-ran for Wildeman in the third; b-grounded out for Godley in the third; c-struck out for Grenier in the sixth

Presque Isle 200 001 0?3

Brewer 130 001 x?5

E?Grenier, Post, Wildeman; Wolfe, A. Freeman; LOB?Presque Isle 6, Brewer 7; S?Wildeman; A. Freeman, Wolfe; SB?Hovey; McAvoy, Whalen

Presque Isle IP H R ER BB SO

Miller (L, 2-2) 2 4 4 1 2 1

Grenier 4 3 1 0 2 2

Brewer IP H R ER BB SO

Sar. DeFilipp (W, 1-0) 7 5 3 2 1 4

PB?Belden; Wing; T?1:35; ATT?125 (est.)