ORONO, Maine — Old Town High School freshman center fielder Taylor Madden admitted that when she stepped up to the plate with two outs and two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the sixth inning of a 3-3 game against Ellsworth in the team’s Class B North quarterfinal, she was “really nervous.”
“All I was thinking was keep taking deep breaths, swing right through [the ball] and hope for the best,” said Madden. She ripped a triple to right center to drive in both runs and lead the fourth-seeded Coyotes to a 5-4 victory over the fifth-seeded Eagles.
“I’ve really been working [on my hitting],” she added. “[Ellsworth pitcher Hannah Wagstaff] threw me a riseball, I’m not really sure, and I liked it.”
“When Taylor ripped that ball, it was so exciting,” said Old Town catcher Gabby Cote, the Coyotes’ only senior. “We love it when freshmen get under the ball like that.”
Cote started the sixth-inning rally by grounding a single to center. She moved to second on a groundout, and Lexi Degrasse hit a little pop-up that dropped in front of onrushing shortstop Aaliyah Manning for a base hit.
Degrasse stole second, but Wagstaff struck out the next hitter for the second out of the inning.
But Madden, hitting in the ninth spot, delivered her decisive triple.
Another freshman, Haley Sirois, preserved the win by striking out the last hitter with the tying run on third in the seventh.
Ellsworth had scored a run earlier in the inning when Sophie Lynch singled to center and raced to third on an outfield misplay.
Jayden Sullivan extended the inning with two outs by poking a single to right to deliver Lynch and she continued to third on another outfield misplay.
But Sirois got the game-ending strikeout on three pitches.
“I was stressed out but I knew my team had my back,” said Sirois. “They trusted me so I had to pull through.”
Sirois had entered the game in relief of starter Emma Doucette at the outset of the sixth inning with the score tied.
Ellsworth took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Manning’s long triple to center and Sullivan’s sacrifice fly.
Old Town took a 2-1 lead in the second on a Cote single, Danica Brown’s base hit and stolen base, a wild pitch and Degrasse’s RBI base hit.
Ellsworth tied it in the third on Lynch’s base hit and Wagstaff’s sharp line drive double down the left field line.
Ellsworth regained a one-run lead in the fifth on a walk to Lynch and Manning’s RBI double to right center.
Old Town answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth when Sirois was hit by a pitch, Madden singled, the duo worked a double steal and Emily Wheeler poked a run-scoring single to center.
Center fielder Alex Bivins threw out Madden at the plate on Wheeler’s base hit to keep the score tied.
“It was a very good ballgame,” said Ellsworth coach Brandi Ensworth. “Our bats came alive. It was a great hitting game. It could have gone either way. They got one extra on us.”
Cote, Degrasse and Madden each had two hits for the 13-4 Coyotes, who will take on the winner of the Nokomis-Oceanside game in Saturday’s B semifinals.
Manning tripled and doubled for 10-7 Ellsworth. Wagstaff doubled and singled and Lynch singled twice.
Wagstaff tossed a complete-game nine-hitter with six strikeouts with four walks.
Doucette allowed three runs and eight hits in five innings. She struck out four and walked one.
