WINSLOW — Laverdiere Field proved something Friday afternoon: Speed horses still have the edge over a muddy track.
The Winslow softball team raced out to an early seven-run lead and saw it through to an 8-3 win over previously unbeaten Nokomis in a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B game played mostly in a steady rain. Junior Paige Trask pitched three innings of scoreless relief for the Black Raiders (3-1) while enjoying a 2 for 3 day at the plate with a double and two RBIs.
“This was a good team to see,” Trask said. “We’re going to see a lot of teams like this, so it was a good test for us.”
Winslow put runners on base in all but two innings and then did what it does best — pressuring the Nokomis defense into four errors to plate four unearned runs. The Black Raiders scored three runs in the first and four more in the second to get the big early lead.
“We made some errors that really surprised us,” said Nokomis coach J.D. McLellan, whose team fell to 2-1. “I thought we could have stopped the bleeding a little bit.”
“The second time through the order was big,” Winslow coach Steve Bodge said. “We decided to see a pitch — see one and then hopefully time it up and hit (the next one). You don’t practice for that, but you just hope you can make the adjustment during a game and do it.”
RELIEF EFFORT: Trask entered the game to start the fifth inning, after Nokomis got on the board with a three-run fourth off starter Broghan Gagnon. Trask fought some control issues best chalked up to the wet conditions, but she ended up holding the Warriors scoreless through four walks and three hits.
“Both Broghan and I have pitched in rain like that before, and we know what it’s like,” Trask said. “We know it’s not easy, so you just have to come in and do your thing.”
Trask’s outing came four days after she beat Class A Messalonskee in a complete-game effort Monday.
OPPORTUNITIES LOST: Nokomis out-hit Winslow 9-8 for the day but could not come through with the big knock when needed.
The Warriors stranded 12 runners on base in all, nine of those in scoring position. They left the bases loaded in the third.
“We watched some (pitches) go by that we shouldn’t have watched go by,” McLellan said.
Nokomis went just 3 for 14 (.214) with runners in scoring position and a combined 0 for 10 outside of the three-run third inning.
WEB GEMS: Winslow left fielder Bailey Robbins made two fine catches on consecutive pitches to begin the top of the sixth, leaping to snare a hard line drive off the bat of Nokomis leadoff hitter Britney Bubar before chasing down Aren Herrick’s fly ball in the gap in left-center.
Raider third baseman Alexa Petrovic initiated a 5-3 double play to get the first two Nokomis outs of the seventh.
Two Nokomis runners were cut down at the plate — one in the third and one in the sixth, each time to end the inning.
“They always hit well against us, always play well against us, always give us a hard time,” Bodge said. “(McLellan’s) teams are always good about putting the ball in play. They don’t strike out much, so you’ve got to get some outs on the bases.”
STAT LINE: Petrovic was 2 for 3 with two runs scored and a pair of doubles for Winslow, while Ashley LaChance was 2 for 3 with an RBI out of the No. 9 spot in the lineup.
For Nokomis, Alyssa Ellis was 2 for 2 with a run scored, a pair of sacrifices and two stolen bases. Austin Leighton and Chelsea Crockett each finished 2 for 3 with a pair of singles.
Bubar allowed eight hits over six innings, walking one and surrendering only four earned runs.
UP NEXT: Friday’s game was the first of four in five days for Nokomis, which will host Mount View on Saturday and Belfast on Monday before traveling to meet Class B North leader Brewer (5-0) Tuesday. Winslow opens next week with back-to-back road games — at Erskine on Monday and at Mount View on Tuesday.
Travis Barrett — 621-5621
tbarrett@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @TBarrettGWC
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