Medomak Valley won the Class B South regional championship on Tuesday, June 16. The Panthers will face Gardiner on Saturday, June 20 in Standish for the state championship. (Mic LeBel photo)
Behind the pitching of ace hurler Sidney Nicholls, the Medomak Valley softball team shut out Lake Region 5-0 in the Class B regional final on Tuesday, June 16 at St. Joseph’s College in Standish.
Nicholls dominated the Lakers from start to finish, striking out 17 batters. Only three Lake Region batters reached base in the seven inning game – two were hit by a pitch and one walked on a 3-2 count in the fourth inning. Fourteen of the first 15 Laker outs were by way of a Nicholls strikeout.
The four Lake Region outs that were not strikeouts did not leave the infield, Nicholls fielded two balls at the mound for the outs, one groundout was picked up by shortstop Rheanne Simmons, and a pop fly caught by Kendall Simmons at third base.
“Everything was working tonight,” Nicholls said. “I was just hitting my spots really well, and with my fastball I was just trying to throw really hard.”
Nicholls has pitched 20 scoreless innings and tallied 42 strikeouts so far in the Class B playoffs and has given up just a pair of hits in the three games.
The junior noted that having other teammates pitch in several games as the Panthers headed down the stretch toward the end of the season helped her stay fresh, healthy, and strong as they made the pivot to the postseason.
“I felt really good out there tonight and I think we’re peaking as a team at the right time, we’re playing really well right now,” Nicholls said.
With Nicholls mowing down the Lakers in quick succession, the Panthers offense got to work producing runs in a variety of ways.
Senior Claudia Feeley led off the bottom of the second inning by getting hit by a pitch, stole second base, and then advanced to third on a groundout by Kendall Wyman. Jennika Schumann struck out for the first out of the inning before Feeley alertly hustled home on a wild pitch to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead. Grace Havener drew a one-out walk and came around to score after McKenna Hertel drilled a single to centerfield and the Lakers made a throwing error. Rheanne Simmons ripped a single to drive in Hertel to boost the lead to 3-0. Peyton Eaton got on base via another fielding error, but Lake Region pitcher Haley Hamlin deftly fielded a grounder to record the final out of the inning.
The Panthers pounced again in the fourth inning.
Rheanne Simmons celebrates with coach Richard Vannah after blasting a triple to deep right field to spark a Medomak rally. (Mic LeBel photo)
Hamlin got Havener to fly out and then struck out Hertel before a two-out Medomak rally began. Simmons, a freshman, blasted a triple to deep right field for her third consecutive hit of the game, and then scored easily on a double by Eaton to left center field. Eaton scored when a Lake Region fielder fumbled a ball hit to the outfield by Arianna Sproul to build the lead to 5-0. The Panthers would not get, or need, another hit for the rest of the game as Nicholls shut down the Lakers the rest of the way.
Rheanne Simmons (1R, 1RBI, 1SB) led the Panthers at the plate with a triple and two singles, Eaton (1R, 1RBI) hit a double, and Schumann (1SB) and Hertel (1R, 1SB) each hit one single. Feeley (1R, 1SB) and Havener (1R) each scored one run.
Hamlin had a solid, complete game outing for Lake Region, holding the potent Medomak offense to six hits and three walks while striking out seven Panthers in six innings of work.
With the win, Medomak (18-1) is set to play Gardiner (16-3) at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 20 at St. Joseph’s for the state championship. Gardiner dealt the Panthers their only loss of the season, 17-16, on May 18, a game in which Nicholls recorded one out before leaving with an injury. The Tigers beat Orono 4-3 in the Class B North regional final on Tuesday by rallying from a 3-2 deficit in the final inning to earn a walk-off victory.
Here are some more photos from the game:
