Thursday, May 23, 2013
A few extra notes from Brewer’s 3-1 Eastern A softball quarterfinal victory over Messalonskee on Wednesday:
• Brewer senior Deaven Smith hit a two-run homer — her first home run of the year — in the top of the eighth. Smith almost got a home run in the fourth inning. She hit one pretty hard but Messalonskee’s Courtney Veilleux flagged it down in deep center field.
“It was on the tip of my bat,” Smith said. “I swung a little early, and it just hit the end.”
• In the fourth inning, Messalonskee shortstop Kylee Knight made probably the best defensive play I’ve seen this inning. Kelly Hatt led off the inning by stinging a one-hopper in the hole. Knight back-handed the ball, and I thought she made a great play just to get her glove on it cleanly.
The ball was hit so hard that Knight still had time to make a throw. She uprighted herself but was still off-balance and wobbly when she made the throw. The throw didn’t have a lot on it, but it still got Hatt at first. Both plays — getting her glove on the ball and then making an accurate throw without either foot set — were pretty impressive.
• Messalonskee started six juniors this year, but no seniors. A lot of people thought Messalonskee would contend this season because of how well Kai Smith pitched as a freshman last spring. Smith wasn’t healthy and rarely pitched this season, but Kassi Michaud became one of the best pitchers in Eastern A.
“I’m real excited about what we’re going to have next year,” Messalonskee coach Leo Bouchard said. “The girls, although they’re a little down-hearted today because they lost, they know that what they did this year was to build the foundation for next year.”
Gary Hawkins has worked at the Kennebec Journal since 1980. His primary beats are baseball, boys basketball, girls and boys soccer and golf.
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