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BANGOR – Two years ago, she was one of the premier young power pitchers in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference, if not the state.
After a bumpy junior season in which she almost totally altered her pitching approach, Kiera Walsh is looking like a premier pitcher once again.
The senior from Lawrence of Fairfield kept Bangor’s batters guessing most of the afternoon Monday as she led her Bulldogs to a 3-2 victory in a battle of early season unbeaten teams.
The 3-0 Bulldogs made three runs in the top of the first stand up as Walsh allowed five hits and two walks while notching 11 strikeouts.
“She had great location and she also kept us off-balance with her changeup,” said Rams coach Don Stanhope, whose Rams are now 2-1.
“She mixes in her pitches. She has six or seven but before the game, we meet and try to get her down to four for the game. We don’t want to stretch her too thin. Today she had a good curveball going and a great change.”
“She has six or seven pitches, but before the game, we meet and try to get her down to four for the game,” said Lawrence coach Joe Marcoux. “We don’t want to stretch her too thin.”
Walsh is pitching pain-free for the first time in more than a year after tearing a muscle in her back while pitching a summer league game in 2005.
“I don’t have as much speed as I did my sophomore year, but I use a lot more of my different pitches. I don’t overpower, but I can use finesse,” said Walsh, who stayed in the game despite taking a batted ball off her hand in the third inning.
“Her finger was purple at the end where she got hit, but she wasn’t coming out,” Stanhope said. “She was tough.”
Walsh (2-0) threw 111 pitches, 76 of which went for strikes, while primarily working low and away on Bangor’s hitters.
The Bulldogs jumped on Bangor starter Sam Besse early as Mallorie Blakney led off with an infield single, Kasey McPhail bunted and reached on an error, and Heather Gilman ripped an RBI single to left. After a sacrifice moved runners to second and third, Megan Lovley had an RBI groundout and Amber Campbell hit an RBI single to left center.
Bangor got a run back in the third as Courtney Stevenson hit a single off Walsh’s hand, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Tawnya Godinez single through the left side.
The Rams made it a one-run game in the seventh as Kristin Eremita singled to lead off, moved to second on a bunt, third on a groundout, and scored on an error. An Emily Heath single put runners at first and second with two outs, but Walsh escaped the jam by getting Amy Hackett on a groundout to second.
“This is a big win for us, even early on,” said Marcoux. “The teams up north are very strong and we came off a good weekend beating Old Town and Skowhegan and these guys were also 2-0 with a win over Brewer, so we knew we had our work cut out for us today.”
Besse settled down after the first, allowing three total hits and no walks with four strikeouts in seven innings.
BULLDOGS 3, RAMS 2
(Monday Afternoon)
Lawrence (3-0) Bangor (2-1)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
Blakney, cf 2 1 1 0 C. Stevenson, c 4 1 0
McPhail, rf 2 1 0 0 Heath, 2b 4 0 0
Gilman, ss 3 1 1 1 Hackett, ss 3 0 0
Johansmeier, c 2 0 0 0 Godinez, cf 3 1
Lovley, 1b 3 0 0 1 Besse, p 3 0 0
Campbell, 3b 3 0 1 1 Bedore, dh 3 0 0
Walsh, p 3 0 0 0 Wadleigh, 1b 0 0 0
Dicker, lf 2 0 0 0 Eremita, rf 2 1 0
Hopkins, ph 1 0 0 0 L.Stevenson, 3b 2 0 0
O’Halloran, 2b 2 0 0 0 Tweedie, lf 2 0
Vigue, ph 1 0 0 0 Stairs, pr-ph 1 0 0
Totals 24 3 3 3 Totals 27 2 5 1
Lawrence 300 000 0 – 3
Bangor 001 000 1 – 2
E-Dicker, O’Halloran; Heath 2; LOB-Lawrence 3; Bangor 7; S-Johansmeier, Blakney; L. Stevenson; SB-Stairs
Lawrence IP H R ER BB SO
Walsh (W, 2-0) 7 5 2 1 2 11
Bangor IP H R ER BB SO
Besse (L, 1-1) 7 3 3 1 0 4
WP-Walsh; Besse; T-1:33; ATT-86
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