Witches outlast Indians Brewer’s bats come alive late

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OLD TOWN – Neither the Old Town nor the Brewer softball teams could get much going in Thursday afternoon’s game at the high school field here.

Sure, there were a few hits here and there, and both pitchers were in a groove. Brewer had a two-run lead early. Old Town came back.

But both the Witches and the Indians kept hitting the ball to fielders and both defenses were solid, frustrating coaches and players. And it went on and on – until Old Town tied the game in the bottom of the seventh.

And it continued in extra innings – until Brewer came alive in the top of the 10th.

Four straight hits, including an Amy Freeman triple to drive in the eventual winning run, sealed a 5-2 victory for the Witches.

“When I went up there I was just sick of grounding out and popping up,” Freeman said. “I wanted to come up [with something] when I had my chance. … [Brewer coach Kelly Cookson] wanted us to make contact, stick with it. Not give up.”

Sarah DeFilipp started the rally with a one-out single and she scored as Freeman lofted an 0-2 pitch into deep left field. Freeman scored on an Anna Corey single, and Corey came home when Christine Thoms hit her second double of the game.

The Witches had just seven hits and the Indians had 22 outs on defense.

“This was the first game that we’ve really struggled,” Freeman said of Brewer’s offense. “It was something new we had to adjust to.”

Old Town pitcher Liz Bergeron induced two groundouts to end the inning, but the Indians couldn’t respond in the bottom of the 10th.

Jordan McLain earned the win for 6-1 Brewer, allowing just five hits, striking out six and giving up no walks. She mixed in a changeup along with her fastball.

“It was something we really worked on [in practice Wednesday],” McLain said.

The Witches started off with two runs in the first on a combination of wild pitches and an error. Old Town cut the lead to 2-1 in the third when Meghan McKay doubled and scored on a Jen Higgins single. The Indians tied it on an Alicia Day sacrifice bunt that plated Sara Jones, who reached on an error.

Erin Reardon and Day hit back-to-back, two-out singles in the ninth but the Indians couldn’t capitalize.

Still, Old Town (4-3) fared better against the Witches than they did in a 20-4 loss earlier in the season, and better than Wednesday’s 7-0 loss to Bangor.

“We had new life, some enthusiasm, we made some plays and attacked the ball at the plate,” Old Town coach Mike Thurston said. “… I was really satisfied with how we played. Brewer got some key hits in the end and that’s what did it.”

Monica Hussey had an unassisted double play in the second inning. Bergeron had nine strikeouts and five walks.

“For me, we just couldn’t catch up to it, we weren’t used to it,” Freeman said. “She kept jamming us inside.”

WITCHES 5, INDIANS 2

(10 innings)

Brewer (6-0) Old Town (4-3)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

DeFilipp, 3b-rf 4 2 1 0 Higgins, c 4 1

Freeman, ss 4 1 1 1 Gomm, rf 4 0 0

Corey, cf 4 2 1 1 Hussey, 1b 4 0 0

Thoms, 3b-c 5 0 2 1 Jones, cf 4 1 0

Michaud, lf 4 0 0 0 Reardon, 2b 4 0 0

York, lf-rf 0 0 0 0 Day, ss 3 0 1 1

McLain, p 5 0 0 0 Littlefield, 3b 2 0 0

Quimby, 2b 3 0 0 0 Gallant, 3b 1 0 0

Foster, dh 4 0 2 0 Moulton, ph 1 0 0

Bennoch, c 0 0 0 0 Dill, dh 2 0 0

Hanlon, 1b 4 0 0 0 Shirland, dh 2 0 0

McKay, lf 4 1 1 0

Totals 37 5 7 3 Totals 35 2 5 2

Brewer 200 000 000 3 ? 5

Old Town 001 000 001 0 ? 2

E?Corey, Thoms, McLain; Higgins, Reardon; LOB?Brewer 7, Old Town 4; 2B?Thoms 2; McKay; 3B?Freeman, Foster; DP?Old Town; S?Day; SB?DeFilipp 3, Corey

Brewer IP H R ER BB SO

McLain (W, 3-0) 10 5 2 0 0 6

Old Town IP H R ER BB SO

Bergeron (L, ) 10 7 5 2 5 9

WP?McLain; Bergeron 2; PB?Bennoch; T?2:04; ATT?75 (est.)