The Windham Middle School eighth grade softball team hit the road to play Lewiston on Friday, May 19. Windham held a 9-1 lead over the Blue Devils halfway through the fourth inning, but a small surge for Lewiston tied the game 9-9. This only motivated Windham more to come back and show their strength as they eventually won, 18-10.
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| Windham seventh grader Josephine Morine gets a piece of the ball on Friday, May 19 during a softball game against Lewiston. PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA |
“Even when our pitchers were down, our infield really held up well; we played a good game. Our bats were on fire, and I think we really held together in the infield and made some great plays.”
In the first inning, Kaylee Napolitano got it going with a ground ball hit. She then reached second base because of an error. After a walk, seventh grader Eliana Kostopoulos blasted the ball to center field and reached third on an error. She later scored and Windham led 3-0.
In the top of the third inning, Kiley Card singled, and Kostopoulos doubled. Card scored and Windham was up by five.
"We ended up battling back really well,” said Card. “We just worked together ... we had some really good, heads-up plays; if there was a runner at first and second and there was a force at third, we would talk and know where to go with that heads-up play.”
Card said these plays coupled with hitting and the energy from the dugout led to the win.
In the top of the fourth inning, Josslyn Dionne, Aubrey Turcotte and seventh grader Sitota Hatch all walked. Turcotte scored on an error. Sarah Smyth walked. Napolitano singled and Hatch and Smyth scored. Windham, 9-1.
Lewiston made a comeback in the bottom of the fourth inning and tied the game 9-9.
This ignited Windham’s fire, and they really got the bats going. Anderson hit an in-the-park homerun. Seventh grader Evelyn Robinson reached second on a pop fly. A walk and Jaden Kennedy grounded out but brought home Robinson. A wild pitch brought in seventh grader Josephine Morin.
“Whenever we’re down you have to trust your players and play your game how you play it,” said Anderson.
From this point on Windham defense only allowed Lewiston to score one more run.
In the top of the sixth inning, Napolitano singled, Card walked, Kostopoulos singled. Anderson hit another in-the-park homerun and knocked in four runs. Robinson and Morin scored after Robinson walked, Morin doubled and Kennedy singled.
Napolitano, who closed out the game pitching, concentrated on throwing strikes, but said she knew that her teammates were capable of getting the outs if the ball was hit. She said they battled hard and while they had a little bit of a downfall in the fourth inning, they were able to pick it back up.
Some things Napolitano thought went well in this game were team optimism and staying focused on the game. Windham Middle School softball coach Laney Worthington said she told the team to light up the bats and put flames on the cleats after that tough fourth inning, and that’s exactly what Windham did.
Worthington said WMS pitching, fielding, team unity and sportsmanship all exceeded expectations against Lewiston. <
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