AUGUSTA – Two Scarborough fourth inning runs were more than enough for pitcher Kelsey Griffin as she turned in a dominating effort to lift the Red Storm by the Skowhegan Indians 2-0 for the state Class A softball title Saturday.

Griffin allowed only one ball out of the infield, faced only 25 batters, four over the minimum, and struck out 17 of them as the Red Storm finished a perfect 20-0.

Catie Funk and Sarah Bonenfant knocked in the only runs with RBI doubles as the Western Maine champs prevailed over the Eastern Maine champs on a bright, sunny day at Cony Park.

Kira Gordon led off the decisive fourth by reaching on an error by Indians’ pitcher Kaitlyn Steward. Five pitches after Meaghan Myers laid down a sacrifice bunt, Funk lined a 2-2 fastball up the middle for a run-scoring double.

Two batters later, Sarah Bonenfant smacked a 3-2 offering to the deepest part of the park in center field, easily scoring Funk.

“We gave them an extra out in that inning, and they came up with a couple of big line-drive hits to go along with it,” said Skowhegan coach Lee Johnson, whose club finished at 12-9.

“When someone gives you something, you’ve got to make them pay for it. [Scarborough] knows how to do that, and they went and did it today,” Johnson said.

The Red Storm managed only three hits themselves off Skowhegan starter Steward – two of them in the fourth – but Griffin was nearly unhittable.

“She’s just amazing, she was settled in right from the get-go,” said Scarborough coach Tom Griffin, Kelsey’s father. “Before the game started she had everything in control.”

Griffin’s control was outstanding, as she never reached a three-ball count and had only two, two-ball counts.

She set the tone early by striking out the first three batters she faced, mixing a fastball which was clocked in the low 60s [mph] with a tricky riser that the Indians couldn’t lay off.

“She’s throwing in the low 60s but also moving the ball, throwing pitches that are moving in different rotations,” Tom Griffin said. “One thing she didn’t do was bring a changeup out here today, because she didn’t really need it.”

Johnson had a hunch that in order to be effective against Griffin, the Indians would have to manufacture runs early and keep her off balance.

“She’s outstanding, everybody knew she’s a very good pitcher. We just had a hard time manufacturing something to get on the board,” said Johnson, who compared Griffin to Brewer’s Jordan McLain.

“If we could’ve made something happen early and gotten on the board then it might have been a different ballgame, because Katie was throwing very well,” Johnson added.

Griffin did not allow a runner to advance past first base on the afternoon.

The Red Storm were having a tough time laying off the high fastball of Steward (two runs, three hits, five strikeouts) early in the game.

“I thought [Steward] did a real nice job the first three innings, attacking it high in the zone,” Griffin said. “Once we started laying of that high pitch she had to bring the ball down because she started to get behind in the count.”

Megan Hancock singled in the sixth and Samantha Locke in the second for Skowhegan’s only hits.

RED STORM 2, INDIANS 0

Scarborough (20-0) Skowhegan (12-9)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Griffin, p 4 0 0 0 Me. Hancock, 1b 3 0 0

Gordon, cf 3 1 0 0 Hodgdon, rf 3 0 0

Myers, c 2 0 0 0 Steward, p 3 0 0

Funk, 3b 2 1 1 1 Gould, cf 3 0 0

LeBorgne, ss 3 0 0 0 LeClerc, ss 3 0 0

Bonenfant, 2b 3 0 1 1 Gray, c 3 0 0

Joyce, lf 2 0 0 0 C. Johnson, 2b 2 0 0

Davis, lf 1 0 0 0 S. Johnson, lf 2 0 0

Carrier, 1b 2 0 1 0 McCarty, lf 0 0 0

Pelletier, dh 3 0 0 0 Mi. Hancock, 3b 2 0

Brackett, rf-pr 0 0 0 0

Totals 25 2 3 2 Totals 24 0 2 0

Scarborough 000 200 0 – 2

Skowhegan 000 000 0 – 0

E-Carrier; Hodgdon, C. Johnson; LOB-Scarborough 5, Skowhegan 3; 2B-Funk, Bonenfant; S-Myers, LeBorgne; SB-Funk

Scarborough IP H R ER BB SO

Griffin (W) 7 2 0 0 0 17

Skowhegan IP H R ER BB SO

Steward (L) 7 3 2 2 1 5

T-1:20; ATT-800 (est.)