Windham softball wins second Class A Regional Championship in three years

By Matt Pascarella

Second-ranked Windham varsity softball made program history again when it won its second regional title in recent years, ousting top-ranked Cheverus at Saint Joseph’s College on Tuesday, June 17. Cheverus had beaten Windham twice in the regular season, but Windham came in ready to go and sent the Stags packing 1-0 as the Lady Eagles advanced to the Class A State Championship.

Windham Senior Chloe Edwards slides into home plate to
score Windham's winning run in the Class A Regional
Championship Game against Cheverus at Saint Jospeh's
College on Tuesday, June 17.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA

“It felt like we deserved it; it was a team win; we came here as a team and that’s how we executed it was together,” said Windham senior Chloe Edwards, who scored Windham’s winning run. “I saw that the ball was in the air, I had a good lead on it, and I had to go. It went past her, and I went.”

Windham defense only allowed four Cheverus hits. Windham senior pitcher Kennedy Kimball struck out eight and only walked two; she threw 69 strikes out of 98 pitches.

Cheverus loaded up the bases in the first inning, with one out; strong pitching by Kimball, plus stellar Windham defense left those bases loaded as they ended the inning.

Windham was able to get the bats going in the second inning when junior Nola Bryant doubled to left center field.

The game was scoreless until the top of the third inning. Windham loaded up the bases when Edwards walked, junior Addison Caiazzo singled and senior Stella Jarvais singled. A hit from Kimball to center was a fly-out, and Edwards didn’t tag up to score. She corrected the mistake on a passed ball and crossed home plate for the only run of the game.

“It definitely helped us that we’ve seen (Cheverus pitcher) Addison (DeRoche) for two games, that was a bonus for us,” said Windham varsity head coach Darcey Gardiner. “They stayed together and constantly played together and that’s why in moments like the first inning (Cheverus) bases loaded, seventh inning runner on – we talk about give and not break, that’s the composure that we want our girls to have, and it was awesome to see them show up with it and act like we’ve been here before.”

While Cheverus shut down Windham in a few innings, Windham returned the favor and never let them cross the plate.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, a walk put a Cheverus runner on first base with one out. Kimball struck out one and then a ground out ended the game.

“We had timely hits when we had runners in scoring position,” said Kimball. “We had good at-bats and were able to get more people on base than we had before, which was good. We did well in the field, we made all our plays in the infield and that was nice.”

In preparation for the state championship, Kimball said they need to make sure the team stays healthy and to brush up on any mistakes the coaches might have noticed during this game.

“As much as you say there’s not nerves, there always is,” said Gardiner. “If we keep communicating, that helps settle our nerves. We say in the dugout ‘stay within ourselves.’ Going into that seventh inning we said, ‘it’s a 0-0 ballgame, let’s keep playing like it’s a 0-0 ballgame.’ It goes back to us having composure with baserunners on. We can give a little without breaking and that’s exactly what we did today. It’s very hard to break this team.”<

Windham varsity softball trounces Oxford Hills during preseason scrimmage

By Matt Pascarella

A week before the start of the regular season, Windham’s varsity softball team played a home scrimmage against Oxford Hills on Friday, April 18 and once the team’s offense got going, they could not be caught and Windham walked away with an 11-1 win.

Windham junior Addison Caiazzo gets to the ball in time to
make a catch during a preseason scrimmage against Oxford
Hills at Windham High School on Friday, April 18.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA

“I think the team did well,” said Windham sophomore Evelyn Anderson. “We had some trouble offensively in the beginning, but from there we picked it up and the important thing was we kept our energy up. We did well defensively. Just getting out there, being with the team, healthy environment really. Even when we get down on ourselves there’s always someone there to pick us up, no matter what. I think little things defensively need work; like how we’re fielding the ball, offensively just keeping our heads in, but I think as a team we did very well.”

This was a learning scrimmage and an opportunity for both teams to practice how they’d react offensively, so after a scoreless first inning runners were placed on base.

Oxford Hills scored in the top of the third inning to take a 1-0 lead.

But Windham senior Kylie Harvie reached base on an error in the third inning with junior Nola Bryant advancing to second base. Senior Chloe Edwards singled to center field scoring Bryant and the scrimmage was tied 1-1.

In the fourth inning WHS senior Kennedy Kimball singled to centerfield, but advanced to third base and drove in two runs.

From that point on, run after run crossed the plate for Windham. In the fifth inning, junior Addison Caiazzo singled on a bunt and brought in Bryant.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, junior Jezebelle Pinto sent the ball to center field, and it dropped behind the fence for her first varsity home run.

“I was just trying to get a base hit,” said Pinto. “It was the best feeling ever, all my hard work paid off. I think we all did pretty good; we were amazing on the basepaths, adjusting to the pitcher and staying back on that ball, we adjusted really well on that and just as a team. There was a lot of good defense in the infield; no balls really got past anyone. Pitchers did great. I think we’re going to be going for it this season.”

After Pinto’s home run, junior Lacie Higgins doubled, and freshman Yani Kostopoulos singled bringing in Higgins.

“We’ve got to put those baserunners on just to see how our defense reacts with the little pressure there could be, it’s good for them to experience it in April than in June,” said Windham varsity softball coach Darcey Gardiner. “I’m really, really happy with the defense; our communication was there, our backup on bases was there. One thing I would like to see us do a little bit better is adjusting to batters with different pitchers.

“Everyone went up there and put together good at-bats, before this scrimmage I had a really good idea (of who I was putting in the batting order), after this scrimmage it’s nice to see how difficult everyone made it for me. When everyone does their job, it makes my job harder – which is a good thing. If we can put the ball in play, we’ve got speed and smart baserunning to pick us up there.”

Gardiner said this scrimmage says a lot of good things and Windham’s at-bats during practices are just like game at-bats.

Windham opens the 2025 season at home at 11 a.m. Friday, April 25 against Bonny Eagle. <

Tremendous effort shown by Windham girls’ basketball in final home games of season

Senior Sarah Talon leaps to get off a shot during Windham
High School's final girls' basketball varsity home game of
the season on Thursday, Feb. 10 against Cheverus High. 
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA
 

By Matt Pascarella                           

It was senior night during Windham girls’ basketball final home game against Cheverus on Thursday, Feb. 10 and Kayla Flanders, Kelsey Gerry, Carly Morey, Altanzul Naranbaatar, Riley Shaw and Sarah Talon were each presented with a small gift as a thank you for their dedication to Windham Athletics throughout their high school careers.

Talon received the Windham Youth Basketball Little Eyes Upon You Award presented by Maine Optometry. This award goes to a senior who demonstrates commitment to the youth in their community.

For Talon, knowing the younger athletes look up to her is a very good feeling. Leadership and community involvement is important to her.

Although the varsity team picked up the pace in the second half, Cheverus had pulled ahead and took this one 54-38.

The junior varsity girls battled and gained to the end, but Cheverus kept its distance and won 50-25.

Varsity

Cheverus took a lead in the first quarter as Windham pushed forward and moved the ball well. Windham sophomore Brooke Gerry hit a three-pointer in the second quarter. At the half, Cheverus led 34-18.

Talon said they adjusted at halftime to Cheverus’ defense. She said they knew they had to keep their heads up and keep going.

The Lady Eagles turned up the defense in the second half and prevented Cheverus from scoring as much as they had in the previous half.

Windham’s effort was there, but shots weren’t falling. With three minutes left, 11 points separated the teams.

Windham did not stop trying, but the Stags got away.

“We had a bad start ... little unorganized the first 12 minutes or so of the game,” said Windham varsity girls’ basketball coach Brody Artes. “We put some more pressure on them in the second half, but they made some shots early that really killed us.”

Artes said they’ve had a good, competitive year with big wins against Bangor and Thornton Academy. The team has improved from start to finish which is what they’re looking for.  

Junior Varsity

“I think we’ve had great success in getting the foundation of this program started,” said Windham girls’ JV coach Gretchen Anderson. “This is a great group of kids ... and they are keeping a positive attitude regardless of score. I’m really proud of them.”

Windham opened the game with a three-pointer by freshman Afomiya Timerga. Windham had an early lead, but the game soon turned close. Cheverus pulled ahead.

Windham remained aggressive and grabbed rebounds. Sophomore Hannah Peterson hit two three-pointers. Halfway through, Stags led 39-19.

Windham worked hard to be first to the ball and went after rebounds. Although Windham’s third quarter was scoreless, the Lady Eagles only allowed Cheverus to score four points during that quarter.

They kept up the intensity for the remainder of the game.

Freshmen Chloe Edwards and Alexis Redmon said Windham played well as a team. Edwards said passing and rebounding went well. Redmon said shooting went well in the first half. <

Windham girls’ basketball shows improvement against Bangor

Varsity senior Sarah Talon heads to the hoop mid-air
during Windham's girls' prep basketball game against Bangor
at home on Jan. 14. PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA 

By Matt Pascarella

The Windham girls’ varsity and junior varsity basketball teams played two great games against Bangor at home where they fought until the end on Jan. 14.

After Bangor beat the varsity team by almost 30 points at Bangor in a year-end game, the Lady Eagles showed the Rams that would not happen again. In a very close game, Bangor tried but Windham held them off and won 46-40.

The JV team wanted to take home a win too and worked hard to do so. Bangor jumped to an early lead and could not be caught. Windham did not get down on themselves and stuck with it until the end. Bangor got a 50-22 win.

Varsity

Windham senior Kayla Flanders got the game going with a three-pointer. This was followed up quickly by junior Elizabeth Levesque who sunk another three-pointer.

Windham was quick to grab rebounds and jumped out to an early lead.

The game turned close when Bangor pulled ahead by one. After Windham senior Carly Morey and Flanders each hit three-pointers, Windham pulled away again. Windham led 29-20 at the half.

Windham sophomore Brooke Gerry sunk a three. Bangor was grabbing rebounds and catching up.

With 1:44 left on the clock Windham led by five. With 5.7 seconds left they led by six and stayed ahead until the buzzer.

“I think we knew what happened last game and we wanted to ... move on,” said senior Sarah Talon. “We had all this week to make adjustments and learn from our mistakes last game. It was a really good team win.”

Windham girls’ basketball coach Brody Artes said going into this game they knew they needed to be tougher physically and mentally. Artes said Windham executed, defended, and rebounded better this game. He was very happy with the team for the turnaround and said a lot of kids stepped up and made big plays.

Junior Varsity

Bangor took an early lead. Windham worked well as they passed, but this led to turnovers as Bangor was quick to interfere.

Windham freshman Dakota Small added points to the scoreboard. So did freshman Chloe Edwards. Windham defense was better in the second quarter, as they allowed Bangor fewer scoring opportunities. At halftime Bangor was ahead 23-11.

“We moved the ball really well and did a good job working as a team,” said sophomore Alyssa Conley. “We talked a lot on defense and were a cohesive unit; never getting down on one another, always picking each other up.”

Windham made a bit of a comeback in the second half as they slowly gained; the effort was there, but not all shots were falling. Windham stayed positive but couldn’t catch Bangor.

“We really have been focusing on rebounding in that getting second chance opportunities on offense and limiting their chances on defense,” said Windham JV coach Gretchen Anderson. “Bangor’s press caused us a little bit of trouble, but again, we are learning and adjusting. I’m really proud of how ... they played, they kept their heads up and played really hard.” <

Windham Little League softball Merchant Focus holds off Gorham/Massabesic

By Matt Pascarella

Windham eighth grader Addison Leger slides into
home with the winning run after tagging up in the
bottom of the sixth inning during Windham Little
League softball junior division team's Merchant
Focus' game against Gorham/Massabesic at
Windham on Tuesday, May 18. 
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA  

Windham Little League’s junior division softball team Merchant Focus took on Gorham/Massabesic at Windham on Tuesday, May 18 and despite jumping to an early lead, Merchant Focus pushed ahead late to come away with a 6-5 victory to remained undefeated. 

Merchant Focus eighth grader Chloe Edwards got things started with a double against Gorham/Massabesic and eighth grader Dakota Small also doubled with Edwards scoring a run.

In the third inning, Gorham/Massabesic tied the game at one.

Merchant Focus got the bats swinging in the fourth inning. Edwards hit a ground ball and got on base after an error by the third baseman. Small doubled again; a short time later Merchant Focus took the lead after a run scored on a wild pitch. Small scored. Seventh grader Oakley McLeod singled. Eighth grader Kennedy Kimball doubled to center field. McLeod scored on a passed ball. Kimball scored. Merchant Focus led 5-1.

“I think since Gorham has been our toughest competitor so far, it kind of lit a little spark in me to play as hard as I could,” said Small.

She said the team knew Gorham is really good in every sport they play and it pushed them to work harder. Small said that she thought everyone did a great job.

In the sixth inning, Gorham/Massabesic tied the game at 5-5 but in the bottom of the inning, Merchant Focus eighth grader Addison Leger singled. After Edwards popped-up for an out, Leger stole home; to make it, 6-5, with Merchant Focus ahead.

Gorham/Massabesic had one final chance to score and force a tie in the bottom of the seventh inning, but solid pitching from eighth grader Sierra Sparrow, coupled with Merchant Focus’ field defense, prevented Gorham/Massabesic from doing so and Merchant Focus got a win and remained unbeaten.    

“Coming off last year, where we had nothing to this year, skill development is all fundamental; we are trying to get the girls better,” said Merchant Focus coach, Kregg Jarvais. “It’s all about at bats and playing time ... and getting people out of their comfort zone, in different positions, as they develop in their games.” <