MV edged in overtime thriller

RUMFORD -- The Mountain Valley softball team came up shy in a game at the old ball grounds.

Molly McCafferty singled home Sam Werzarski with the eventual winning run in the top of the eighth inning for a 3-2 triumph against Mountain Valley. The contest was an old-fashioned pitching dual between McCafferty and the Falcons Lindsay Gallant (three hitter), who each threw complete games.

Mount Abram (3-4) received a break when Werzarski walked leading off the eighth and advanced on a ground out by Taylor Henderson and a passed ball. McCafferty drilled the ball in to short centerfield.

Class B Mountain Valley had taken a 2-1 lead on a RBI triple by Kristin Ridge. Hannah LaPointe had walked with two outs and Ridge hit a fly in the right-centerfield gap.

The lead proved to be short lived because Mount Abram tied it up on a bizarre play. Jill Howard led off the seventh with a walk and reached third. Falcon assistant coach Gary Dolloff called time to set-up a play and it almost was executed. Third baseman Brooke Dolloff raced in on a bunt and faked a throw to first. Howard retreated toward third, but Falcon shortstop LaPointe had roamed over to cover, but her throw toward the plate hit Dolloff who had failed to clear the base line.

“We hadn’t been in that situation before," said Falcon coach Brian Mills. “But walks really hurt us in the last two innings. It allowed Mount Abram to get runners on base and get things in motion. It then created a snowball effect.”

The drama wasn’t over because Chrissy Briggs singled leading off the bottom of the eighth, but pinch runner Nicole Burgess was picked off on an attempted bunt and McCafferty struck out Ridge to end the game.

“Mountain Valley certainly gave us all we could handle,” said Pilsbury. “They made the plays (two double plays) when they needed to to win the game. I thought we made a couple errors at the wrong time, but we are just getting every body back and it will help get the team rolling.”

MV drew initial blood when Briggs singled with two outs in the first, moved up on a wild pitch and raced home on Dolloff’s single. In the second inning, Howard walked and scored an unearned run to tie the game.