READFIELD — Sometimes a pitcher’s best asset against a potent offense is her team’s own hitters.
In the case of Nokomis Regional High School’s Libby Dunivan, the junior left-hander fit both of those criteria Friday afternoon.
Dunivan picked up the pitching win against a notoriously heavy-hitting Maranacook softball team and also went 4-for-4 at the plate with three doubles, five RBIs and two runs scored in the Warriors’ 7-5 victory over the Black Bears. In the circle, she allowed six hits, three earned runs and struck out nine.
“I had been struggling a little bit, so I just tried to focus on watching the ball hit the bat and just make contact,” Dunivan said. “It felt really good today so hopefully I can keep hitting well.”
Dunivan was not the only Warrior to stand out offensively. Audrey Temple went 3-for-4 with three runs scored, Mikayla Charters went 3-for-3 with an RBI and Austin Leighton had a single, double and two runs scored.
Nokomis (5-2) pounded out 14 hits and also reached base via a walk or error six times, which allowed it to overcome some miscues in the field and on the basepaths.
“We missed a lot of signs, like the girls stealing when they’re not supposed to be stealing and not bunting when they’re supposed to be bunting,” Nokomis coach John McLellan said. “Then the errors, which we haven’t had that many errors in a long time.
“…Against a team like that, they can come back on you any time. I’m really happy with that win. We’re lucky. We’ve gotten a lot of breaks lately and that was a good one that we just got.”
The Warriors biggest break came courtesy of Dunivan in the top of the fourth inning with Nokomis clinging to a 3-2 advantage. A double from Leighton sandwiched around singles from Shannon Kasprzak loaded the bases with no outs. Sydney Hanson followed by flying out to shallow left, but Dunivan came through moments later by lacing a 1-1 pitch to the gap in left-center field to clear the bases with a double.
Maranacook (2-5) managed to get one run back in the bottom half of the inning and tacked on two more in the bottom of the fifth, but that would be as close as it would get to tying the game. Dunivan allowed just a single baserunner — who reached on an error and did not make it past first base — in the final two innings, and Nokomis tacked on an insurance run in the top of the sixth when Dunivan scored from second on a single from Charters.
“The difference was they had some timely hitting and we still are working on timely hitting,” Maranacook coach Jeannine Paradis said. “Our kids played pretty well (Friday) considering we’ve only had two practices outside since the season started and that was Wednesday and Thursday. We’re still working on little things and we just need to take advantage of our at-bats.”
The Black Bears were limited to just six hits, with Kaitlyn Chick recording a pair of singles and Justice Merrill leading off the game with a double. Merrill, Fayth Jacques, Tabitha Tlumac, Lindsy Hilton and Elise Linton each scored runs for Maranacook, while first baseman Amber Ridlon had a strong game defensively and turned a pair of double plays.
Despite the loss, Paradis said she is confident her team will find a way to get going with a little more seasoning.
“It’s going to come with time,” she said. “We haven’t had the same lineup since the beginning of the season for any game, so it’s just going to come with time and getting used to being outside and hitting against pitchers other than a pitching machine or (myself or coach Don Beckwith) tossing to them.”
Evan Crawley — 621-5640
ecrawley@mainetoday.com
Twitter: @Evan_Crawley
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