PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Fort Fairfield’s junior softball team, made up of players between the ages of 9 and 12, had its offense in gear Friday and the result was a tournament championship.
Fort Fairfield, which had also won last year’s Northern Maine Community Recreation Association title, made it back-to-back wins by stopping Ashland in the finals, 11-3.
Ashland had beaten FF in the Maine Potato Blossom Festival Tournament held July 14, 2016 and also had won every other matchup between the teams this summer. However, Friday was Fort Fairfield’s day.
Fort Fairfield scored four runs in the top of the first inning and added three more in the second and two in the third to take a big lead.
The first-inning rally saw Fort’s first four batters — Kira Rogers, Layla Harris, Camryn Ala and Brenna Levasseur — reach base and score runs. Olivia Langner had the big hit, a two-run single to cap the rally.
Rogers opened the second inning by reaching on an infield hit, while Ala reached on an outfield error and Levasseur singled. Consecutive walks drawn by Langner, Audrey Millard and Emma Wasson were also integral in the three-run outburst.
Two more runs crossed the plate in the third. Rogers reached on a fielder’s choice scored for the third consecutive inning, Ala had an RBI single and Levasseur a run-scoring triple.
Meanwhile, Fort Fairfield’s pitching duo of Levasseur and Ala did a great job keeping Ashland’s offense in check. Levasseur started and pitched the first, fourth, fifth and sixth innings, while Ala blanked Ashland over the second and third frames.
Ashland scored all three of its runs off Levasseur in the fifth inning as Abby Doughty, McKenna Condon and Mackayla Carney all walked and Sidney St. Peter ripped a two-run double, with Carney also scoring on an error.
Fort Fairfield put the game out of reach in the top of the sixth after Langner reached on an error, Wasson was hit by a pitch and scored thanks to a Sara McShea RBI groundout and again when Jayde McKenney got to first on an error.
Ashland was outhit by a 9-5 margin. Levasseur had three of Fort Fairfield’s hits to lead the offense, while for Ashland, Jamie Poulin tripled and Mia Carney doubled in addition to St. Peter’s double. Poulin took the loss on the mound.
Fort Fairfield beat Caribou and Mars Hill to reach the final, while Ashland knocked off tourney host Presque Isle for its other win in the tourney.
