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BREWER – Brooke Harris was starting to feel some pressure as she pitched into the scoreless sixth inning of Saturday’s Class D state championship softball game.
But late comebacks are nothing new for Lee Academy. That’s how it has thrived this year. It’s how the Pandas went from a No. 5 seed to a berth in the state final against perennial power Buckfield. It’s how the Pandas won their semifinal, knocking off No. 1 Bangor Christian.
Once again, Lee didn’t buckle.
The Pandas played the game of their lives – and sophomore Harris threw the game of her young career – as Lee held off Buckfield 1-0 and became the first Eastern Maine team to win a Class D state championship since 1996.
“We’ve done awesome under pressure,” Harris said. “You’d think we would kind of curl up and get all scared, but we stayed strong and got it done when we needed to.”
Lee’s win was the first 1-0 game ever played in a Class D state game.
“It was an excellent game,” Pandas coach Ron Weatherbee said. “We scored one whole run, but that was enough. I was very pleased with how we played. We played excellent defense; we put the bat on the ball.”
Lee, which went into the postseason with a 12-4 record, was making its fourth state appearance since 2002. The Pandas had never won a softball state title.
The 15-2 Bucks found Harris to be nearly unhittable, managing just two infield singles. The only Lee outfielder who had to make a play was center fielder Karin Bird, who shagged a fly ball with a runner on first for the third out of the sixth inning.
“She was pitching down low inside,” Buckfield coach Ken Farrington said. “She was doing what every good pitcher does.”
Harris retired 12 in a row at one point. She gave up her only walk with two outs in the second.
“It was awesome,” Harris said. “I’ve had a couple of one-hitters. In this game, one hit was good. I mean, we won off it. No runs in six innings, you kind of get thinking, if they score it’s over. But we held them.”
She also didn’t allow a leadoff base runner until the top of the seventh when Kasey Farrington hit a weak ground ball to the left side of the infield.
Lee’s defense preserved the win. Farrington was forced out at second base, allowing Shayna Shackford to reach on a fielder’s choice. She stole second, but Lee third baseman Dana Houghton jumped up to snare a sure line shot into left for the second out.
Houghton also helped on the final out of the game, picking up a Lindsey Neal ground ball and throwing to first to seal the title.
“I was so proud of the girls,” Harris said. “They did awesome in those last couple of clutch plays. They got it done.”
Buckfield pitcher Desiree Brackett limited Lee to four hits and didn’t walk anybody, but the Bucks defense didn’t hold up and Lee’s sixth-inning run proved to be unearned.
Lee sophomore Aarika Ritchie hit a two-out, ground-ball single to center field and started for second after Marci Moors hit a popup to right field. The inning looked to be over, but the Buckfield right fielder dropped the ball, allowing Ritchie to get to third.
Ritchie stayed there for a count, but when Weatherbee saw the defense throw the ball into the infield – with no one covering the plate – he sent Ritchie home.
“At that point, we figured we had to send her,” Weatherbee said.
Ritchie was just happy to get on after striking out looking in the fourth.
“I thought I’d try to jump on the first pitch and it was a good one,” she said.
The Bucks don’t make many errors in games, Farrington said, but the high-pressure situation may have caused the miscue.
“That was a mental mistake,” he said. “But everybody’s hollering, there’s a lot of activity going on, and we made a mistake.”
Bird, the next batter, hit another single, but Buckfield cut down Moors at home.
Amanda Gifford and Harris led off the game with back-to-back singles. Even though the Pandas needed five more innings to score, the early hits were a good confidence boost.
“I think that got us pumped up early,” Harris said. “In the dugout we wanted to make sure that we got the first run so we could have the momentum.”
The last EM team to win was Ashland, which beat Monmouth 9-5 in 1996.
PANDAS 1, BUCKS 0
Buckfield (15-2) Lee (17-4)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
Lavoie, 2b 3 0 1 0 Gifford, 1b 3 0 0
Dunn, c 3 0 0 0 B. Harris, p 3 0 0
Farrington, 3b 3 0 1 0 Ritchie, c 3 0
Shackford, 1b 3 0 0 0 Moors, 2b 3 0
D. Brackett, p 3 0 0 0 Bird, cf 3 0
Neal, ss 2 0 0 0 K. Harris, ss 2 0 0
Henderson, cf 2 0 0 0 Houghton, 3b 2 0
Jordan, lf 2 0 0 0 Ly. Cropley, rf 2 0 0
Reuter, rf 2 0 0 0 McLaughlin, lf 2 0 0
Totals 23 0 2 0 Totals 23 1 4 0
Buckfield 000 000 0 – 0
Lee 000 001 x – 1
E-Shackford, Reuter; LOB-Buckfield 3, Lee 4; SB-Shackford; K. Harris
Buckfield IP H R ER BB SO
D. Brackett (13-1) 6 4 1 0 0 2
Lee IP H R ER BB SO
B. Harris (17-4) 7 2 0 0 1 5
T-1:02; ATT-250 (est.)
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