MADISON — After Friday afternoon’s season opening softball game between Carrabec and Madison, both teams left the field knowing they did some things well, and knowing they have an entire season in which to get better.
“We’ll take it. It was not a very well-played game, but I was proud we got down and were able to come back,” Madison coach Chris LeBlanc said after his Bulldogs rallied for two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to overcome a three-error day for a 4-3 win.
Madison’s No. 9 hitter, Whitney Bess, dropped a single into short right field with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring Erin Whalen with the go-ahead run. Bess said she was just looking to make contact.
“She (Carrabec pitcher Sam LeBeau) gave me kind of an outside-middle pitch,” Bess said.
Bess’ RBI single capped a rally that began an inning earlier for the Bulldogs. Down 3-1, Bess scored on Kayla Bess groundout to first base to cut Carrabec’s lead to 3-2 in the fifth.
Sydney LeBlanc led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a single and went to third base on Erin Whalen’s single to right field. With one out, LeBlanc scored on a sacrifice bunt by Alyssa Hurst to tie the game.
“We want teams to come play our style of ball. For six innings, we played our style,” Carrabec coach Craig Knight said.
The Cobras’ style is aggressive. Carrabec bunts for base hits, steals bases and tries to use its team speed to force opponents into mistakes. For a while, that worked for the Cobras on Friday afternoon.
Carrabec scored a pair of runs in the top of the third to take a 2-0 lead. LeBeau led off with a single and went to second on Bailey Dunphy’s bunt single. After stealing third base, LeBeau scored on a play at the plate when Madeline Wood’s low throw got past catcher Aly LeBlanc. Lexi Cowan’s sacrifice fly to right field gave the Cobras a 2-0 lead.
“They’ve got some athletes and they know how to play the game. They got us early with their bunts, and they’ve got speed and Craig does a great job,” coach LeBlanc said.
The Bulldogs got a run back in the bottom of the third when Whitney Bess scored on a Wood single. Carrabec took a 3-1 lead in the fifth. Dunphy led off with a triple to left field and scored on Baylee Atwood’s bunt single.
“With people like Bailey Dunphy, Baylee Atwood, you’ve got to be able to get up and get there. They have a lot of lefties and a lot of speed, so we really practiced that a lot,” Whitney Bess, Madison’s third baseman, said.
Wood struck out 10, allowing four hits and one walk, for the win. Carrabec put the tying run on third base in the top of the seventh when Dunphy reached on an error, but the Bulldogs escaped the jam with a flyball to center to end the game.
“If she’s going to strike out 10, we’ve got to make the plays out in the field,” coach LeBlanc said, referring to his team’s three errors. “We just can’t do that in a close game, and we were fortunate to get out with a win.”
For Carrabec, LeBeau gave up six hits and three walks to go with two strikeouts. The Cobras played without senior Paige Chadbourne, a four-year starter in center field, who recently had her wisdom teeth removed. Knight said he expects her to be back in the lineup next week, possibly in Monday’s game against Mt. Abram.
“It would have been a nice notch in our belt if we could’ve gotten this win, but I’m not totally disappointed,” Knight said.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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