2015 KVAC softball champions, the Lincoln Academy Lady Eagles. Team members are (front from left) Alyssa Smith, Kate Laemmle, Olivia York, Chloe Hallowell, Alyx York, Courtney McKenna, Christine Hilton, (back) assistant coach Wayne Farrin, Kylee Poland, Cassidy Bodley, Taylor Poland, Margaret Skiff, Miranda Achorn, Morgan Achorn, Abby Farrin, Danielle Pinkham, Lindsay Brackett, manager Bailey Plourde, and coach Tom Nelson. (Paula Roberts photo) |
Lincoln Academy Eagles won the school’s first KVAC softball championship June 6 at Thomas College in Waterville. The 15-1 Lady Eagles defeated 16-0 Gardiner 2-0 in an exciting defensive match-up. The two teams did not meet in the regular KVAC season.
“They make it easy. They make the plays and fight. All day long they make the plays. (Pitcher) Abby (Farrin) has been solid,” coach Tom Nelson said.
Farrin, named the KVAC Coastal Player of the Year, collected the win (6K,1B,6H). Krystal Smith took the loss (0B,8K,1HP,5H) in a classic pitchers’ duel.
Lincoln scored both of their runs in the top of the first inning. Chloe Hallowell led off with a bunt single down the third base line. Morgan Achorn blasted a hit over the right fielder’s head to the fence and sped around the bases for a two run inside the park homerun.
The game was a defensive battle for the next six and a half innings. Gardiner had runners on second and third in the bottom of the first, but Eagle third baseman Alyx York fielded a grounder and threw to first to get the third out of the inning.
Margaret Skiff singled for Lincoln in the second and went to second on an error, but was left hanging.
Gardiner’s Mikala Shaw reached on the only Eagle error of the game in the second, and Morgan Carver walked. The Tigers looked to score when Bri Brochu hit a single up the middle.
Eagle center fielder Morgan Achorn rifled a throw to her twin sister Miranda at the plate to cut pinch runner Victoria Littlefield down and pick up the third out of the inning.
Coach Nelson said Morgan Achorn’s throw to the plate for the out did not surprise him. “She has done it all year long,” he said. “I’ve seen her do it six or seven times since I’ve been coaching.”
The Lady Eagles celebrate winning the KVAC championship. Lincoln Academy softball defeated 16-0 Gardiner for the KVAC title on Saturday at Thomas College in Waterville. (Paula Roberts photo) |
Morgan Achorn hit a one out triple in the top of the third, but was left stranded. Lilly Chepke hit a leadoff double in the third for Gardiner. Alyssa Smith caught a pop fly at short, A. York a fly at third and Smith fielded a grounder to get out of the inning.
The Eagles went down in order in the fourth. Shaw singled for Gardiner in the home half of the fourth, but was thrown out at second by York on a heads up play to pick off the lead runner on a Logan Granholm fielder’s choice. Farrin fanned the next two batters.
Lincoln’s Skiff reached on an error and Cassidy Bodley was hit by a pitch in the fifth. Tiger Lauren Chadwick caught a line drive to rob Hallowell of the hit, then flipped the ball to Brochu at second to double off Skiff.
Both Morgan Achorn and Danielle Pinkham made diving stops in the fourth and fifth innings to prevent Gardiner for getting extra bases.
Miranda Achorn singled in the sixth, but pinch runner Olivia York was thrown out trying to steal second. Granholm robbed Farrin of a hit with an over the shoulder catch in left field to spoil any chance Lincoln had of adding to their tally.
Gardiner went down in order in the sixth, and Lincoln in order in the top of the seventh.
Lincoln’s defense held in the seventh for the win. A. York caught a bunt pop-up at third, Farrin fanned a Tiger batter for out number two, and Skiff fielded a ground ball at first to end the game.
Hitting for the Eagles were Morgan Achorn with a homerun and triple, and Hallowell, Miranda Achorn, and Skiff a single each. Hitting for Gardiner were Chepke with a double and single, Brochu two singles, and Krystal Smith and Shaw a single each.
The last time the Eagles won a league softball title was in 1989 when they were Mid Maine Conference co-champions. They were co-champions in 1988, and MMC champs in 1982 and 1985.
