The Red Eddies produced a valiant effort against a team that went on to win the state titlem but it was just another early exit for EL on the road.

This spring, the outlook is a little different. The Red Eddies start the tournament playing at home and have some confidence going for them.

“We’re really excited,” senior outfielder Hannah Smith said. “The seniors, my freshman year, we didn’t even make it into the playoffs. The last two years, we had to go all the way to Skowhegan to play. Now we have a home playoff game. That hasn’t happened in a long time.”

EL hosts Oxford Hills Thursday at 3:30 p.m. The two teams split during the regular season. The Vikings held off EL for the win early in the year, but EL blanked Oxford Hills two weeks ago.

Between that win over the Vikings and one that followed over Bangor EL has beaten quality teams down the stretch.

“I think we really stepped up our game against Oxford Hills,” Smith said. “It was Senior Night. So we were going to have to come out fired up because usually teams on Senior Night, they want to win more than usual. Then when we beat them, we used that to play against Bangor, and we played really well.”

The Red Eddies have not won a quarterfinal since the late 1990s. They beat Kennebunk at home back then. Their pitcher that day was their current assistant coach Nicole Chapman. The only playoff game EL has won since was a prelim over Brunswick. This current team only has three seniors, Smith, Calli and Molly Murray, but the Red Eddies have formed a cohesive group that has steadily improved.

“We’ve succeeded all together,” said Calli Murray, a senior outfielder. “When we work together, we realize how far we can get. That Bangor game and how we jumped on Oxford, it really showed how we work together. I really hope we can play that way in the playoffs.”

Though the team is relatively young on paper, this group has come together and developed confidence. The Red Eddies  already achieved milestone wins over Cony and Skowhegan, teams EL had not beaten during Coach Elaine Derosby’s tenure.

“I feel like we’re so much closer together,” Murray said. “I feel a bond. We don’t argue. We all get along. I think that out in the field that really helps pick each other up. A lot of us are becoming so much stronger and we’re all confident in the field and at the plate.”

A key part of that success stemmed from the emergence of pitcher Sarah Hammond. The junior hurler, who was a fine third baseman, established herself this spring in the circle, and she’s only gotten better. Molly Murray, who also saw some pitching time, settled in at second while the rest of the squad developed faith in Hammond and grew in their own roles. The pieces have steadily fallen into place, as newer players have established themselves as well.

“Our freshmen and sophomores have played a lot of softball, either together or on different teams,” Derosby said. “It was just a matter of time before they made the adjustment to high school softball.

“We’re not over confident. We’re having fun with it. We work well together and hold each other accountable to work harder. It’s a fun group. They’re a relaxed group. They’ve had success this year, and I think we’re allowing them to feed off that.”

Many of the players on this club have succeeded in other sports. Many of them have won playoff games in basketball and reached the Eastern A final. Much of the team was part of that soccer squad last fall that won the regional crown before losing in the state game.

“For soccer, we knew we weren’t the most skilled, but we had the heart,” Smith said. “That’s what really brought us to the state championship. I think our softball team has a lot of skill and we also have the heart.”

That soccer team was not the favorite to win Eastern A last fall. They survived a quarterfinal against Lewiston in overtime. They beat Brunswick and avoided Bangor when Mt. Ararat stunned the Rams. EL then rallied to beat the Eagles for the regional title.

It’s an experience that Murray says was like no other and that’s something that has pushed this team this spring.

“All I can think about now is that I want to win the state game for softball, now that we have the chance to complete that,” Murray said. “We didn’t do that for soccer and basketball. This is the senior’s last chance to become state champions. I really feel like if we can work together, we can do it. If we can pull this off, it would be an amazing end to my senior year.”

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