BLUE HILL – Jessica Fontaine had already quieted the opposition’s bats. Then it was time to make some noise with her own.

With one out in the bottom of the eighth inning and a 3-1 count against her, Fontaine stroked what would have been ball four into right-center field for a single, scoring Katye Mattson from third base, and lifting the top-seeded George Stevens Academy Eagles to a 13-12 Eastern Maine Class C softball championship game victory over Sumner High School here at the Blue Hill Fairgrounds on Wednesday afternoon.

The host Eagles, now 18-1, will face Western Maine champion Madison on Saturday at St. Joseph’s College in Standish for the state Class C championship.

Sumner of East Sullivan, seeded third, ends its season at 13-5.

After GSA forced the extra inning with two runs in the bottom of the seventh, Mattson reached on an error, proceeded to steal second and advanced to third when Sumner pitcher Darci Lane (12-5) threw a wild pitch, which also walked Polly Dodge.

Sumner Coach Debbie Osgood held a conference at the mound and Lane started Fontaine off with three balls well outside the strike zone. Lane then snuck a strike past Fontaine before pitch No. 5, high in the strike zone, was roped into the right-center field gap.

It fell off the top of the glove of Sumner outfielder Holly Newenham, cinching the win for GSA.

“I was just thinking that I had to do it for the team,” said Fontaine. “It’s been quite a while since we’ve done anything like this.”

“I told Jessica that if anything was close she should try to hit to the outfield,” said GSA Coach John Greene.

For the Eagles to pull out the victory, somebody needed to stop the Sumner bats. Trailing 12-6 in the fifth, Fontaine (9-1) did just that when she replaced starting pitcher Becca Heavrin. Fontaine surrendered just two hits in 3 1/3 innings of relief.

“Becca just didn’t have it today,” Greene said. “You could tell that in the fifth inning. Jess came in and did the job.”

In the seventh, trailing 12-10, Jamie Bowden drew a walk. After Wendy Marcinkus flied out to center field, Kelly Wilson ripped a triple down the left field line to get the Eagles within one.

Brandy Eaton then lofted a fly ball to center for a sacrifice fly, tying the game and sending it into extra innings.

Early on, it seemed GSA would have been lucky to be in the game.

In the top of the first inning, a walk to Sumner’s Melissa Nelson, a sacrifice bunt by April Butler, and back-to-back singles by Cindy Alexander and Ginny Shaw gave Sumner a 1-0 advantage.

Designated hitter Chrissy Evarts then blasted a line drive over the right fielder’s head for an inside-the-park home run. Three walks and one error later, Sumner had a 5-0 lead.

The Eagles showed they would not go down without a fight.

Wilson opened the inning with a walk, stole second, and went to third on a wild pitch. Jill Smith then singled and later scored on a triple from Mattson.

“They didn’t get down today,” Greene said. “We fell behind and we came right back and made a dent (in the lead). We took advantage of it.”

Sumner added a run in the top of the second, but in the home half of the inning the Eagles stormed back in a big way.

With one out, Fontaine and Bowden hit back-to-back singles. Marcinkus reached on an error before a bunt attempt by Wilson was thrown into right field by Sumner’s Alexander, allowing two runs to score. Eaton then hit a ground ball, but Sumner first baseman Angela Bagley could not handle the throw, scoring two more runs.

When the dust settled, the game was tied 6-6.

Even after Sumner had doubled its score with one run in the third and five more in the fifth (three courtesy of an inside-the-park homer from Nelson), GSA continued to bounce back.

Eagles 13, Tigers 12

Sumner girls George Stevens Academy

Name ab r h bi Name ab r h bi

Nelson, ss 4 3 1 3 Wilson, lf 4 3 2 1

Butler, 3b 4 0 0 0 Eaton, cf 3 1 0 1

Alexander, c 4 2 3 1 Smith, 1b 4 3 1 1

Shaw, cf 4 3 1 0 Culvert, c 4 1 0 0

Evarts, dh 3 1 2 3 Mattson, 3b 4 1 1 2

Newenham, rf 3 1 0 0 Dodge, ss 4 0 2 1

Bagley, 1b 4 1 0 0 Fontaine,dh-p 5 1 3 1

Stevens, 2b 4 0 0 0 Bowden, 2b 3 2 2 0

Seward, lf 3 1 1 1 Marcinkus, rf 4 1 0 0

Totals 33 12 8 8 Totals 35 13 11 7

Sumner 511 050 00 – 12

George Stevens 240 031 21 – 13

E – Nelson 2, Alexander, Lane, Bagley, Seward; Bowden 2, Mattson, Dodge, Heavrin, Marcinkus. 3B – Wilson, Mattson HR – Nelson, Evarts LOB -Sumner 9, George Stevens 8 DP – Stevens to Nelson to Bagley; Dodge to Bowden to Fontaine to Bowden SB – Nelson 2; Eaton 2, Wilson, Smith, Mattson S – Butler SF – Eaton

Pitching Summary

PITCHER IP H R BB SO

Sumner

Lane (L, 12-5) 7 1/3 11 13 4 1

George Stevens

Heavrin 4 2/3 6 12 9 4

Fontaine (W, 9-1) 3 1/3 2 0 1 3

One out when winning run scored HBP – Culvert (by Lane); Mattson (by Lane) WP – Lane 4, Heavrin 3 TIME -2:29