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BREWER – Renee Trafton was anxious for softball season.
Central High School’s junior right fielder couldn’t play field hockey or participate in cheerleading because she was recovering from October knee surgery.
Trafton made up for lost time Wednesday by drilling a clinching two-run triple in the seventh inning to lead second seed Central to its first Eastern Maine Class C softball title since 1985 by virtue of an 8-3 triumph over top seed Dexter at Coffin Field.
“It’s terrific,” beamed Trafton, who also had a third-inning sacrifice fly.
Second seed Central, 18-1, will face Western Maine champ Sacopee Valley of Hiram, also 18-1, in Saturday’s 3 p.m. state title game in Brewer.
Central took a 5-3 lead into the seventh but Nicole Labbe drew a one-out walk and Shawna Bell lined a single to left to set the stage for Trafton, who ripped a sinking opposite-field liner that skipped past right fielder Amanda Pullen and went to the fence.
Trafton wound up scoring on the play when the ball was bobbled.
“It felt good,” said Trafton. “I don’t know what happened. Hitting is a reaction for me.”
Central had jumped out to a 5-0 lead thanks to two first-inning runs and three more in the third. Dexter had answered with three in the bottom of the third.
Central’s two first-inning runs were unearned as Jenny Rollins’ leadoff single was followed by a dropped fly ball, a run-producing infield error and Traci Underhill’s soft RBI single to center.
In the third, Jody Harvey walked, Labbe reached on an infield single and Bell walloped a long, two-run triple to left-center before scoring on Trafton’s sacrifice fly.
Bell said Dexter righthander Sarah Carnes “was trying to come at me so I just waited patiently on [her 3-1 pitch]. Lately, I’ve been popping up. It felt good.”
Central coach Durice Washburn said Trafton and Bell “have come up with key hits all year.”
Labbe concurred, saying, “They usually come through. They’re our top two hitters.”
Dexter scored its third-inning runs on a double error, Carnes’ RBI double, a wild pitch, Cindy Koscielny’s sacrifice fly and consecutive singles by Sarah Wyman, Kristy McGowen and Pullen (RBI).
Righty Smith settled down to retire 12 of the next 14 hitters until issuing a walk and giving up a single to Wyman with two outs in the seventh. But McGowen lined sharply to second baseman Underhill for the final out.
“I threw pretty good today,” said Smith, who allowed eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts. “It was nerve-wracking. Getting the early runs was very important. It gave me some time to breathe.”
She also credited her mates for their solid defensive performance.
“I can always count on them. They’re great,” said Smith, who threw 65 strikes among her 97 pitches.
“They made some good plays. They played better than we did. I said before the game the team that made the fewest mistakes would win,” said Dexter coach Galen Chapman, whose youthful Tigers, with just two seniors on the roster, had split regular-season games with Central.
“They have a really good fielding team,” said Dexter first baseman Ashley Foster. “They’re all very strong. They’re all athletes.”
“We’ve been solid defensively all year and have come up with hits when we needed them,” said Washburn.
Bell and Underhill each had two hits for Central while Wyman and Nikki Chapman had two apiece for Dexter.
Carnes pitched well in defeat. She struck out three and walked three in her complete-game eight-hitter.
RED DEVILS 8, TIGERS 3
Central (18-1) Dexter (16-3)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
Rollins, 3b 4 1 1 0 Veazie, cf 4 0 0
Harvey, cf 2 1 0 0 Carnes, p 4 1 1
Labbe, ss 3 3 1 0 Koscielny, ss 2 0 1
Bell, c 4 2 2 2 Wyman, c 4 1 0
Trafton, rf 3 1 1 3 McGowen, 3b 4 0 0
Underhill, 2b 3 0 2 1 Pullen, rf 3 1
Jones, lf 3 0 0 0 Foster, 1b 2 0 0
Mitchell, lf 1 0 0 0 Chapman, lf 3 0 0
Daniel, dh 3 0 1 0 Cote, 2b 3 1 0
Totals 26 8 8 6 Totals 29 3 8 3
Central 203 000 3 ? 8
Dexter 003 000 0 ? 3
E?Chapman, Cote, McGowen, Pullen; Underhill 2, Trafton, Harvey; LOB?Central 6, Dexter 8; 2B?Carnes; 3B?Bell, Trafton, Koscielny; DP?McGowen-Foster; Carnes-Koscielny-Foster; S?Daniel; SF?Trafton, Koscielny
Central IP H R ER BB SO
Smith (W,16-1) 7 8 3 0 2 2
Dexter IP H R ER BB SO
Carnes (L,16-3) 7 8 8 5 3 3
HBP?Underhill by Carnes; WP?Smith; PB?Wyman; T?2:03; ATT?250 (est.)
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