Greenville falls to Richmond in D South final

STANDISH — You can hit against the Richmond High School softball team. With a little small ball and some timely knocks, you might even be able to send a few runs across.

You’ll just have a tough time scoring enough.

It was the same old offensive story in the June 13 Class D South regional final against No. 2 Greenville High School, and the top-seeded and four-time defending defending state champion Bobcats (18-0) kept on raking.

A two-run blast from Sydney Underhill-Tilton and a three-run triple from Bryanne Lancaster were two of many hits that gave Richmond its 88th straight win, 14-6, and its eighth consecutive regional title. The Bobcats were also playing in the program’s 14th regional final in a row.

It wasn’t Meranda Martin’s sharpest outing in the circle and she wasn’t helped by a few errors in the field, but when it came down to it, Richmond baserunners kept rounding the bags.

“We did what we needed to do,” Richmond coach Tony Martin said.

Martin was walked on five pitches to start the game and quickly stole two bases. Camryn Hurley walked and swiped second before Underhill-Tilton bounced a two-RBI single into center field to make it 2-0.

A few batters later, Emily Doun was struck by a pitch and loaded the bases for Lancaster, who laced a two-RBI single off the glove of No. 2 Greenville first baseman Amber Benway to double the score.

Then in the second frame, after Martin was thrown out rounding second base, Hurley walked again and scored when Underhill-Tilton lifted one over the center-field fence to make it 6-1.

“The energy was there all game long,” Underhill-Tilton said. “We got here early. We got here when there was no one here, so we were right in our element and that carried and showed throughout the whole game.”

More runs were on the way in the fourth, and after Greenville (14-4) made it a one-run game in the top half, Richmond needed them. Martin reached on an error and Hurley laid down a perfect bunt to set up Underhill-Tilton again, who smacked another RBI single through the infield to make it 7-5.

Hurley later scored on a sac fly and with the bases juiced, it was again Lancaster clearing them with a sharp triple to center to bust the score open.

Halle Pelletier and Lilly Pelletier split time pitching for Greenville, striking out eight batters over six innings. Against the top three of the Richmond order, the pair managed just two outs in 13 at-bats.

Martin started red hot for Richmond in the circle, striking out the first four batters she faced. But with one down in the second, Halle Pelletier struck a triple into center field.

Pelletier scored on a bunt by Morgan Noyes and in the third, an RBI single from Emily Vaux made the score 6-2.

Noyes hit a bloop double into left field to start a rally in the fourth inning, before two errors loaded the bases for Jessica Pomerleau. On an 0-2 count, Pomerleau got under one and popped it up into shallow center field, where it fell and brought two more runs across.

Martin lasted four innings and fanned five Lakers before she switched positions with Underhill-Tilton in the fifth. Halle Pelletier reached and made it to third on a throwing error and scored on an RBI groundout from Noyes to round out Greenville’s scoring.

From then on, Underhill-Tilton was lights out, striking out five of the last eight batters she faced to end the game. At the plate, she finished 3-for-4 with five RBIs. Lancaster also drove in five while going 2-for-4 and Mackenzie Abbott had an RBI single in the fourth inning.