AUGUSTA – The sun shone brightly for Thursday evening’s Class C-D softball senior all-star game, especially for the pitchers from Western Maine, who shut down the East offense. The A-B all-stars didn’t fare as well.

Four West pitchers combined to hold the Eastern Maine all-stars to just three hits and one run for a 6-1 victory in the first of the Maine Softball Coaches Association’s senior all-star games at Cony High’s softball field.

The A-B game started at around 7:55 p.m. but was called because of rain that started in the bottom of the first inning. That game will be made up Thursday, June 26 at 6 p.m. at the Cony High field.

Pitchers Katie Wing of Winthrop, Audrey Pleau of St. Dominic in Lewiston, Angie Fenstermacher of Dirigo in Dixfield, and Danielle Buswell of Buckfield limited the East to one hit through 7 1/3 innings. Wing, who pitched the first innings and re-entered for the top of the ninth, earned the win. She struck out five.

“Pitching was great today,” said St. Dominic catcher Kat Vincent, who was named Miss Maine Softball in a ceremony between games. “We had a lot of pitchers on the team and they did a great job. The fielding was awesome and it seemed like we really gelled today, too.”

The East didn’t have a runner on until Dexter’s Amanda Pullen reached on a dropped third strike in the top of the fourth inning and the visitors managed just four more baserunners.

Vincent sparked the West all-stars in the bottom of the second. She led off with a single, got to second on a fielder’s choice, went to third thanks to a passed ball, and scored when another ball got by the East catcher. St. Dominic’s Julia Harper brought in the eventual game-winning run in the third with a single that plated Winthrop’s Mel Burnham, who doubled. Cassidy Bran of Madison added an RBI single in the fifth.

Mount Abram’s Lani Roy hit a two-run single in the bottom of the eighth and Angie Fenstermacher of Dirigo High in Dixfield drove in a run on a sacrifice fly later in the inning.

Bangor Christian pitcher Kara Hartman, who was named the Eastern Maine Class D Player of the Year, took the loss but struck out eight in her three innings of work. Central of Corinth’s Shawna Smith pitched the rest of the game.

“I knew that the West would probably be pretty tough but they weren’t as tough as I thought,” Hartman said. “… I just went out there and tried to be consistent in my strikes.”

The East scored in the top of the eighth when Central’s Shawna Smith reached on an error with one out and scored on Karoleanne Emery’s single to left-center. Emery got all the way to third on a throwing error. But the West ended the inning with a double play.

Stearns’ of Millinocket’s Jordan Legassey smacked a sixth-inning leadoff single to center. After a strikeout, the West defense gunned Legassey down at third and then got a groundout to end the inning.

Lee’s Jessie Kuester gave the East another chance in the seventh when she hit a one-out ground-ball single past the West shortstop. Kuester stole second and went to third on a wild pitch, but Buswell sandwiched two strikeouts around a walk, stranding the Panda standout at third.

“Probably some of us are used to a lot slower [opposing pitchers], especially in northern Maine,” Hartman said of the East’s troubles on offense.

The West A-B all-stars had a 1-0 lead and the bases loaded when the rain started at about 8 p.m. Umpire Ed Baer announced that the game was off about five minutes later.