Raider girls advance to West semis

UPDATE: With Fryeburg Academy's 12-0 win over Lincoln Academy in the Class B West quarterfinal on Wednesday, the Raiders will host fourth-ranked Greely on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Academy diamond. The winner advances to the Class B West finals on Tuesday, June 11 at 7 p.m. against the winner of the Cape Elizabeth-Gray-New Gloucester game.

VARSITY SOFTBALL

Raiders 7, Greely 1: With the playoffs looming, Coach Fred Apt was more concerned about his players rediscovering their hitting stroke than whether the Raiders would reclaim the top spot in the Class B West Heal Ratings.

Cape Elizabeth climbed into the top spot after a win over Greely to finish the season 15-1.

The stay, however, was short lived.

Fryeburg played a complete game, something the Raiders hadn’t done in a few weeks, lighting up Greely pitching for nine hits en route to a 7-1 thumping of the Rangers on Senior Day at the Academy last Friday.

The Raiders (15-1) locked up the top seed and were scheduled to play eighth-ranked Lincoln Academy (11-6) yesterday in the Class B West quarterfinals. The Eagles beat ninth-seed Spruce Mountain on Tuesday. Due to graduation, LA requested that the quarterfinal game be moved up to Wednesday. The winner advances to Saturday’s semi-final game against either Greely-Mountain Valley-Yarmouth. The Class B West Final is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday at St. Joseph’s.

With the offense sputtering over the past few weeks, Coach Apt encouraged his players to refocus, be more disciplined at the plate and tighten up their defense.

All three phases came together Friday as the Raiders swept the season series against Greely.

Senior Carla Tripp provided the spark to get the FA offense chugging along. She went 3-for-3, scoring twice.

Tripp, who had a 20-plus pitch at bat against pitcher Danielle Cimino in last year’s playoff, continued to haunt the Greely ace. She was hit by a pitch in her first at bat, and would score the Raiders’ first run.

Fryeburg broke the game open in the third, plating three runs and chasing Cimino from the game. Tripp started the rally with an infield single. Maddie Pearson then flared a base hit down the right-field line. Sarah Harriman helped her own cause by lining to left-center after being down two strikes to score Tripp. With runners at second and third, Sydney Charles slapped an infield hit to plate Pearson.

Sophomore lefty Kristen Chipman delivered the knockout blow when she rifled an outside pitch into left field with two out, scoring two runs.

Harriman dominated the Ranger line-up, allowing just three hits while striking out 10 to lower her ERA to 0.78. Ranger third baseman Elyse Dinan simply said, “Today, she (Harriman) was on her A game.”

Greely hurt their own chances by commiting four errors, while the Raiders had just one miscue.

Coach Apt praised his entire team, saying they rose to the challenge, which included playing without slugger Kylie Locke, who injured her hamstring against Freeport. Outfielder Elle Burbank played a flawless first base in Locke’s absence.

“Great team effort,” Coach Apt said. “We need to keep this type of effort and focus going for four more games.”

Wells 9, Lakers 7: The Warriors jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the season finale in Naples, and out lasted Lake Region.

Tori Girardin knocked a double for the Lakers (0-16), while Kayleigh Lepage and Ashley Clark each had three hits. Girardin and Kristina Morton each collected two hits. The Lakers rallied for three runs in the seventh.