BRUNSWICK — Softball coach Hugh Dwyer admits his Brunswick High School squad is fighting an uphill battle. 

On Tuesday in a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference matchup with Lewiston, Dwyer watched his Dragons struggle to escape two-out Lewiston rallies, a fact that led directly to the Blue Devils’ 17-2 mercy rule victory. 

One season removed from ending a long losing streak against Lewiston in a 12-0 home victory, the Blue Devils scored six of their first eight runs with two outs, and put the game on ice with a nine-run fifth. 

In all, Lewiston had 19 hits, with all nine members of the Blue Devils’ lineup delivering at least one base-knock. 

“One of our captains, Ketty Stinson, made a good point that we are mentally exhausted in games, and so the confidence factor against a team that we mercy ruled last year has a lot of confidence against us, a huge hurdle to overcome,”  Dwyer said. “That is a hole that we have to dig ourselves out of. Lewiston played the game fundamentally well. But, there were a lot of plays just out of reach that we didn’t continue to play on.”

First-year Lewiston coach Mike Child liked what he saw, especially at the plate. In the past two games, the Blue Devils have 41 hits. 

“This team has come a long way from where we first started,” said Child, whose Blue Devils host undefeated Edward Little on Thursday. “This game and the last game, they are just ripping the cover off the ball.

“We have a big one coming up. EL is well put together and well-coached. We are just hoping to be able to play a good game and hit the ball.”

Lewiston showed its hand in the opening inning. Kallie May, who was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs, singled with one out. After a walk to Meagan Gosselin, Jordan Mynahan ripped a two-run double off Brunswick starting pitcher Shea Sullivan for a 2-0 lead. 

Mynahan remembered last year’s disappointing loss to Brunswick (0-6), and despite the winless mark that the Dragons possessed coming in, felt her team took their hosts seriously. 

“Even their record, we knew that they had played pretty hard teams, so we just came out for the win,” said Mynahan, who pounded out three hits and drove in three runs. “We work on a lot of hitting, knowing that hitting is the key to a game. If you don’t score runs, you don’t win.” 

“We do a lot of hitting in practice, whether with a machine or live hitting,” Child said. “We do situational things every single day. These girls have played six games and we’re 4-2. These are big wins.”

Brunswick answers

Dragons leadoff hitter Allie Eck singled off Mynahan to open the bottom of the first. She stole second and third and trotted home on a two-out single by Sullivan to get Brunswick to 2-1. 

“Allie hit .081 last year, and this year she is hitting over .500 and has 14 steals,” said Dwyer of Eck, who also doubled twice among her 3-for-3 afternoon. “Last year, she was so doubtful. This year, she has come together. I see that with this team. It is just about getting there.”

But, Lewiston scored five two-out runs in the second to extend its lead to 7-1. May drove in a pair with a double, and Megan Theriault (single) and Danielle Cyr (double) picked up an RBI each. 

The Blue Devils tacked on a run in the third, with Lexi Poulin hustling to first for an infield single, scoring Allison Porter. 

Brunswick tacked on a run in the third, again thanks to Eck. She doubled to the fence in center field and scored one out later on a single by Shelby Plourde. 

Lewiston finished things off in the fifth. In all, 13 Blue Devils came to the plate, with the big blows coming from Cyr (two-run triple), and Emily Mousseau (RBI single). Porter had three singles and scored three runs, while Cyr, Mousseau, Gosselin and Poulin added two hits apiece. 

On the mound, Mynahan had seven strikeouts and permitted seven hits. Sullivan struck out two and walked two in 4 1/3 innings. Hannah Escoe finished up, recording the final two outs for Brunswick, which hosts Messalonskee on Thursday.