Madison’s bats proved too potent for even the most stellar defense at Bailey Field at St. Joseph’s College in the Western C regional final. The Bulldogs got the bats swinging and broke open a tight game for a 10-3 win.

It is Madison’s first regional softball title since 1998, when the Bulldogs had won five in a row. They’ll play the defending state champs from Bucksport on Saturday in Brewer.

“It’s been so long,” said Madison junior pitcher Emily McKenney. “We all worked very hard. We put a lot into it. We definitely knew we had a chance and really wanted to work at it.”

Madison blew open a 2-2 game in the fourth with six hits and seven runs. It chased Dirigo starter Cami Denney and the Cougars never recovered.

“They had some wonderful hits and great contact with the ball,” said Dirigo coach Sara Thurston. “I told the girls that we had some great defensive plays, but that fourth inning, they had some better hits.”

McKenney had three hits and drove in a run. She also held the Cougars to just five hits. Five different Bulldogs (19-0) had two hits. Sierra LeBlanc and Samanatha Bruce also drove in two runs apiece.

“We got to their pitcher and we did some great things,” said Madison coach Al Veneziano, whose team edged Dirigo 2-1 in the regular season. “We did that the last time we played, and I knew we had to do that again.”

Natalie Bolduc had four hits for Dirigo (13-6). Denney had a hit and drove in a run. Tasha DeRoche reached base twice, was solid at short and scored a highlight reel run despite her team trailing by seven.

“It’s the second time in the school’s history that we’ve been here,” said Thurston. “So you’ve got to be proud of that.”

Dirigo took the lead early. Bolduc doubled to lead off the game. She advanced on a throwing error. Then an Emma Lueders grounder to short came home but Bolduc slid beneath the tag for the 1-0 lead.

Madison took the lead in the second. After Cristie Vicneire singled with two outs, Kayla Booker followed with a double. Rightfielder Gretchen Bradburry made a nice try on the ball but couldn’t come up with it. Savanna Kandiko then singled in Booker for the 2-1 lead. After a Kirsten Wood hit put two on, Sierra LeBlanc hit a potential gapper but Bradbury saved the runs with a diving catch to end the inning.

Dirigo loaded the bases in the third with nobody out. Madison nearly escaped the threat when a runner failed to tag on a DeRoche drive to left and McKenney got a strikeout. Denney hit a bloop single to right that tied it 2-2 with two outs.

“That inning that we had the bases loaded and didn’t capitalize on that, that could have been a game-changer,” said Thurston. “We didn’t get any further with that.”

Gabby Scott made another spectacular catch in left to rob Vicneire of extra bases in the third.

“They made a couple of great catches in the outfield,” said Veneziano. “The girl in right made a great catch. That could have broken it open. Then the other girl in left made a catch. That could have also broken it open. The made some great plays.”

In the fourth, Dirigo’s defense opened the door for Madison instead of closing it. After a walk to Booker, Kandiko reached on an error. Then Wood hit a bloop infield hit over first base and won the race to the bag. Booker scored on the play for the 3-2 lead. Then LeBlanc drilled a two-run single up the middle for the 5-2 advantage. McKenney and Erika Parker followed with RBI singles and Bruce finished the damage with a two-run single. Freshman Katelyn Olsen came on to finish the inning in relief and pitched the final two innings.

“After you get a couple of runs, the team starts rolling,” said McKenney. “Everything started to come together. When we get a couple of runs, everyone gets excited.”

Dirigo got one back in the fifth. DeRoche walked, worked her way around the bases and scored on a wild pitch. She raced to the plate only to find the catcher waiting with the ball. She leaped up and over the crouched catcher, landed with a thump and touched the plate without being tagged.

Madison added another run in the sixth on an Alex LeBlanc RBI single.

“At the beginning of the game, we knew we had to get the bats on the ball,” said McKenney. “Dirigo has good hitters. I told them before the game ‘Okay, guys, I’m not going to strike everybody out. ‘ We had to get the bat on the ball and score some runs.”

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