When they were youngsters playing softball, Amy Wadleigh would catch for older sister Gwen Wadleigh, who would go on to pitch for John Bapst of Bangor and is now a junior starter for the Crusaders.

But soon enough Amy wanted to pitch, too, and earned a spot on the Bangor High softball team this year as a freshman. Saturday morning, the two girls squared off in the circle for the first time as the Rams and Crusaders played in their first regular-season game of the season.

Although Amy got the better of Gwen, leading Bangor to a 3-2 win over Bapst, there weren’t any hard feelings. After the game ended Amy ran over to Gwen and jumped on her, piggy-back style.

The sisters had been thinking about Saturday’s game since the beginning of the season, when Amy made Bangor’s varsity roster. Each girl lobbied her coach for the start.

Things nearly unraveled Friday when Gwen suffered some jammed fingers in practice and had to go to the emergency room, but she was set on playing.

“There was no way I wasn’t pitching today. No way,” Gwen said. “I was hoping we would pitch against each other just to see what would happen.”

Amy Wadleigh (2-1) had the best outing of her career so far, pitching a four-hitter with nine strikeouts. She also hit a two-out RBI single in the first inning in her first time facing her sister. Amy also struck out Gwen in the older sister’s first at-bat against the younger sister.

“She did pitch really well and I was proud of her,” Gwen said. “I think it’s hard to not want her to do well and hard to want her to do well because you want your team to do well.”

Gwen Wadleigh (2-4) had a solid outing, too, scattering six hits while striking out two.

“Of course I’ve always supported her when she plays and there’s that sisterly love,” Amy said.

The Wadleighs live in Veazie, so they had their choice of where the girls can attend school. Amy Wadleigh said she considered attending Bapst but wanted to carve out her own spot away from her sister.

“I didn’t want to be in her shadow anymore, always being Gwen’s little sister,” Amy said.

The girls’ mother, Kathy, admitted to being nervous before the game. She snapped pictures of the two girls when they hit against each other. Randy Wadleigh, their father, switched Bangor and John Bapst hats depending on who was pitching.

Kathy Wadleigh usually keeps a pitching book for Gwen, but had a friend do it Saturday.

Both girls also play basketball and have been on the court at the same time, sometimes even crouched at the scorer’s table together to check into games. Between her two daughters Kathy Wadleigh said she went to around 80 basketball games last season.

“We’re a sports family, so we enjoy it,” she said.

The girls admitted they were nervous before the game, but not because of they were about to face each other. Gwen was worried about her fingers and the fact that the Crusaders haven’t been hitting as well lately; Amy was eager to rally after struggling in a game against Hampden last week.

PVC scholarship

Last summer’s golf tournament to raise money for the Penobscot Valley Conference brought in so much money that PVC officials have decided to give some of it away for the first time in the form of scholarships for senior student-athletes.

Some of the more than $10,000 raised at the Joe Paul golf tourney will go to scholarships that will be drawn at random during Sunday’s PVC banquet at Jeff’s Catering in Brewer. The PVC will give away four scholarships worth $2,000 each.

Brewer athletic director Dennis Kiah said each of the 31 schools in the PVC were invited to bring four student-athletes – preferably two boys and two girls – who have participated in at least one sport in their senior year. There will be two scholarships for each gender.

The banquet starts at 4 p.m.

The scholarship will be sent to each student-athlete’s college or university in the second semester of their freshman years, Kiah added.

This year’s golf tournament will be Monday, June 27 at the Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono. The 36-team, four-person scramble will begin with a shotgun start at noon. There is a $95 donation per person or $380 per team.

The registration deadline is Friday, May 27. To register or sponsor a hole for a $100 donation, contact George Stevens Academy athletic director Jim Murphy at 374-2808.

Morrow heading to Richmond

South Portland guard and Miss Maine Basketball finalist Whitney Morrow will take her skills to the University of Richmond next year.

Morrow recently signed a National Letter of Intent, according to the Spiders’ Web site.

Morrow was named to the 2005 All-Maine first team and was the Gatorade Maine Player of the Year. She was also a Southern Maine Activities Association all-star after helping the Red Riots to an 18-0 regular-season record in Western Maine Class A.

She averaged 16.1 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 2.9 a assists per game while shooting 81.1 percent from the free-throw line and 34.1 percent from 3-point range.

“We are excited that a player of Whitney’s caliber has decided to join us at Richmond,” said coach Michael Shafer, who was hired late last month. “She had a great prep career, as seen through her numerous honors, and is a perfect example of a true ‘gym rat.'”

Richmond finished with a 23-8 mark last year and earned the program’s first-ever at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament.

Jessica Bloch can be reached at 990-8193, 1-800-310-8600 or jbloch@bangordailynews.net.