AUBURN — Edward Little got going in the third inning and beat rival Lewiston 11-1 in five innings in a regular season finale softball game Tuesday at Central Maine Community College.
The Red Eddies (10-6) and the Blue Devils (8-8) both are moving on to the Class A North playoffs, Lewiston as the eighth seed and Edward Little as the sixth or seventh seed.
After two scoreless innings, Shelby Vallee scored to give the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Their lead didn’t last long, though, as the Red Eddies scored 11 runs in the final three innings.
“We knew today was going to be tough. It’s a rivalry game, right? So we knew today was going to be competitive,” said Edward Little coach Elaine Derosby. “And so we just wanted to make sure we maintained focus and we did what we needed to do at the plate and in the field.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Edward Little took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the third, but its real show was in the fourth, when 11 batters came to the plate and six runs scored.
“Hats off to (Edward Little) for putting the bat on the ball and they just put in places that we couldn’t make the plays, that was just the difference. But my pitchers did well in their spots,” said Lewiston coach Ryan Cormier.
• In the bottom of the fifth inning, Lexi Kelsea drove in Jillian LeBlanc and Ellie Porter to give the Red Eddies a 10-run lead and put the mercy rule into effect. Kelsea finished with five RBI.
• Edward Little, which won the teams’ first meeting 6-3 on April 30, focused on the fielding to stay ahead Tuesday.
“I think we just played the field well. Last time we had a rough fielding inning, and (this time) I just think we had a lot of energy in the dugout, which helped a lot too,” said senior pitcher Kassidy Lobb, who allowed only two hits.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
• Lewiston: Shelby Vallee (one hit, one run), Ava Dionne (one hit; 5 strikeouts).
• Edward Little: Lexi Kelsea (3 hits, triple, one run, 5 RBI), Emily Poulin (2 hits, 2 runs, 2 RBI), Chloe LeBlanc (2 hits, double, 2 runs, one RBI), Elizabeth Galway (3 hits, one RBI), Kylee Lebrun (2 hits, one run, one RBI), Kassidy Lobb (5IP, 2 strikeouts, allowed 2 hits).
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