BREWER – The Brewer Witches kept it in the family, so to speak, to edge Mt. Blue of Farmington on Thursday afternoon.

Jordan McLain pitched a one-hitter and sister Meghan McLain got the game’s only RBI hit to lead Brewer’s second-seeded softball team to a 1-0 Eastern Maine Class A quarterfinal victory over the No. 7 Cougars at Coffin Field.

Jordan McLain was simply masterful on the mound as she kept Mt. Blue batters on their heels and swinging late and-or wildly while walking just one batter and striking out 13.

“We don’t see a lot of rise-ball pitchers. Most of the southern pitchers rely more on a curveball, a drop or a straight change, so our timing was off seeing that kind of pitcher,” said first-year Cougars coach Mary Berry. “She throws a ball that looks like a nice high strike, which too many of us like, and then it breaks and tails up and in. It’s a tough pitch to hit, especially if you haven’t seen it much.”

The 14-3 Witches will host ??? in a Saturday semifinal game.

Jordan McLain, who threw 82 pitches in seven innings, credited her off-speed and other complementary pitches for setting up her rise-ball.

“My breaking pitches were working pretty well today,” she said. “It helps when a lot of your pitches are working well.”

Going into the bottom of the sixth the Witches had only two baserunners but caught a break when pinch-hitter Emily Frazer’s sharp grounder down the inside portion of the first base path was mishandled by Mt. Blue’s second baseman. Sarah Risser bunted her over to second and Frazer then went to third on a foul popout.

Meghan McLain had already fouled off two pitches with a 2-2 count before lacing the seventh pitch through a hole just out of third baseman Amelia Allen’s reach into left field for the RBI.

“She was pitching outside a lot, so I tried to crowd the plate a little more,” said Meghan McLain. “I was just hoping for a good pitch to hit that I could put in plan and score the run.”

Mt. Blue just couldn’t solve Jordan McLain, who bore down to escape two jams. After giving up a leadoff single to Cougars pitcher Megan Richard in the second inning and moving her to second with a wild pitch, McLain retired the next three batters on a groundout and two strikeouts. In the fourth, she walked leadoff batter Caitlin Richard, who stole second and third, but stranded her at third with two straight strikeouts and a comeback grounder to the mound.

“Today she had a lot of pitches working for her,” said Brewer coach Harry “Skip” Estes. “And she got tougher in the pressure situations.”

The Cougars wind up 11-7.

“The last time we know of that Mt. Blue was in the playoffs was 1986, except for the year everyone got in, and they haven’t won one even longer than that, so it’s probably been 30 years since we’ve been this far,” said Berry. “These senior girls have gone from being a winless team as freshmen to a playoff team.”

WITCHES 1, COUGARS 0

Mt. Blue (11-7) Brewer (14-3)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Mullen, 2b 3 0 0 0 Risser, c 2 0 0

C.Richard, ss 2 0 0 0 Defilip, lf 3 0

Allen, 3b 3 0 0 0 M.McLain, 3b 2 0 1

M.Richard, p 3 0 1 0 J.McLain, p 3 0 0

Robinson, pr 0 0 0 0 Jackson, ss 2 0 0

Howard, c 3 0 0 0 Lorenz, 2b 2 0 0

Grant, lf 2 0 0 0 Estes, 1b 2 0 0

Keach, 1b 2 0 0 0 Smith, rf 2 0 0

Goucher, rf 2 0 0 0 Gomm, cf 1 0 0

Yardley, dh 2 0 0 0 Frazer, ph 1 1 0

Scott, cf 0 0 0 0

Totals 22 0 1 0 Totals 20 1 2 1

Mt. Blue 000 000 0 – 0

Brewer 000 001 x – 1

E-Howard, Mullen; LOB-Mt. Blue 2; Brewer 3; S-Risser; SB-Richard 2

Mt. Blue IP H R ER BB SO

M. Richard (L,11-7) 6 2 1 0 1 6

Brewer IP H R ER BB SO

J. McLain (W,12-2) 7 1 0 0 1 13

WP-J. McLain; T-1:06; ATT-200 (est.)