STANDISH — They were a strike away from getting to softball’s biggest game.

Then, it fell apart for Fryeburg Academy.

The Raiders saw a 2-0 lead vanish in the bottom of the seventh inning Tuesday night as top-seed York (16-3) rallied for three runs to stun FA in the Class B South title game played at St. Joseph’s College in Standish.

With freshman Camden Jones getting the nod to pitch over sophomore Emelia DeSanctis (Jones pitched against York in the second meeting and FA lost 4-3), the rookie seemed to be on the verge of outdueling Player of the Year, York’s ace Abby Orso. Jones allowed just three hits on the night, while striking out nine by using a good mix of fastball and change-up.

FA manufactured their runs. Morgan Fusco scored in the first, reaching after being hit by Orso’s first pitch. Fusco stole second and scored on an error.

In the fourth, senior Tina LeBlanc walked, stole second, advanced to third on an overthrow and scored on Paige O’Connell’s ground out to first.

Coming in, FA Coach Fred Apt felt his team put players on against York in their last meeting, which settled the seeding question with the Cats earning top billing, but were unable to get a hit or put the ball in play to score.

This time, they did.

But, the Raiders learned the painful lesson that defense is what decides championships. After a strong defensive outing against Cape Elizabeth in the semifinals Saturday, the Raiders came unglued. Three miscues opened the door for the Wildcats to burst FA’s title bubble.

Jill Carr got the ball rolling for York when she reached on an error. Carr advanced to second on a passed ball and moved up on a ground ball out. Coach Apt then rolled the dice, intentionally walking Orso (who stole second) and catcher Kayla Dredge to load the bases. The strategy appeared to be working for the Raiders when Jones induced a pop up. The catch was made, but second baseman Kayrin Johnson tried to close out the game by trying to double up Carr at third. The ball sailed and Carr scored.

Jones had two strikes on York’s Meg Bachelder, who delivered a clutch line drive base hit to left, scoring Orso to tie the game.

Sometimes, a big hit comes in the form of a dribbler. With a pinch runner in for Dredge, Isabelle Babcock got enough of a pitch to put the ball in play. Jones fielded the dribbler out in front of the plate and fired the ball toward first baseman Maddie Darling to end the inning. But, the ball sailed into right field and York plated the game winner.

York advances to the Class B state game against defending champ Brewer at 12:30 p.m. Saturday right back at St. Joseph’s.

For the Raiders, who put together an incredible season, they are left with, “What if…”

LeBlanc flashes the leather, breaks out the big bat in win over Cape Elizabeth

By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

FRYEBURG — Tina LeBlanc wanted to make her last game at the Legion Field one she would always remember.

It will be hard to forget what the senior Raider shortstop did on the biggest stage.

LeBlanc blasted a RBI triple, bashed a three-run homer and made to acrobatic defensive stops that squashed potential rallies to lead Fryeburg Academy to an 11-4 victory Saturday in the Class B South semi-finals against Cape Elizabeth.

The victory propelled the second-ranked Raiders to the South championship against top-ranked York (see accompanying story).

Cape (the third seed) stunned the FA faithful in the first inning when Jess Robicheau connected on a 1 ball, 2 strike pitch for a deep drive to right-center that just cleared the fence for a two-run home run.

Despite giving up the long ball, Raider sophomore pitcher Emelia DeSanctis regrouped and hurled a strong outing.

“I felt we could always come back. We’ve done it before. We did it against Lincoln. I left that pitch too much down the middle. It was supposed to be inside,” she said. “My teammates and coaches encouraged me to just hit my spots. Sometimes, I’m a little off.”

LeBlanc was quick to offer words of encouragement and get her teammate back on her game.

“Her confidence is so much better. Last year, she really struggled with that coming in as a freshman. This year, she has really grown. She is comfortable with the people behind her. We all support her and keep her up. That confidence has shown through her pitching,” LeBlanc said. “She has practiced so hard, every practice, every day. She comes in with the biggest smile on her face wanting to learn and wanting to grow.”

One way LeBlanc helps the rookie hurler settle down is the short ritual they do at the mound at the start of every inning.

“It started freshman year when. Coach Apt told me to talk to her and try to calm her down. I thought, oh well, I’ll do it every inning and it became a ritual we do. We have a little talk, she gets relaxed and she gets me relaxed. We go from there,” LeBlanc explained.

LeBlanc had no doubts that the Raiders would find their stride and rally.

“We’ve had a lot of games that we’ve fallen behind early, and we as a team know that anything can happen. We’ve been ahead and lost games and we’ve come from behind to win. We never give up and keep cheering each other on. We believe in ourselves, and have faith in each other until the last out,” she said.

Cape went up 3-0 on a line drive hit to left, and a dash of small ball (two bunt singles).

Fryeburg closed the gap to 3-2 as Paige O’Connell opened the frame by ripping a pitch off the Cape shortstop’s glove. With two out, DeSanctis helped her own cause with a line drive to right, which skipped past the Cape outfielder and rolled to the fence, enabling O’Connell to score. The second run scored on a wild pitch.

In the third, LeBlanc evened the game, bashing a 0-1 pitch to the right-center gap for a triple, scoring Morgan Fusco, who opened the inning with a walk. Cape’s Abby Cornell escaped further trouble by notching a strikeout on a 3-2 offering.

“We do a really good job at telling each other if we strike out what the girls is throwing. That first at bat, Morgan (Fusco) and Camden (Jones) were saying ‘look for something outside.’ She threw one to me high, and I waited for it, and drove it,” LeBlanc said of her RBI triple.

Cape regained the lead in the fourth. The frame started well for the Raiders as DeSanctis logged a strikeout and Fusco made a tough catch at the fence on a bunt attempt that popped up. But, a line drive that found the gap in left-center and two base hits plated the run.

Again, the Raiders were unfazed. Instead, they got rolling. A slap down the third baseline by Kayrin Johnson resulted in a high throw and safe call, enabling Darling (base hit) to score,

With two out, Camden Jones walked, setting the stage for LeBlanc. On a 1-2 pitch, LeBlanc hammered a drive over the centerfield fence to put the Raiders up 8-4.

“I could feel it. When you have a hit like that, nine out of 10 times you know it’s going out. It was really exciting. It was exactly what I wanted out of my last game here,” she said.

Not only did LeBlanc dazzle with her bat, she flashed the leather as well. She took away a hit in the fifth by ranging up the middle to snag a hard drive and threw the runner out. In the seventh, she closed out the Capers by going full speed out into shallow center to snag a fast, dropping flare.

“Tina’s backhand play could have been the game, it saved a run. She’s phenomenal. She wants to be the person that makes the big play,” FA Coach Fred Apt said. “She has really helped our younger players. We have a sophomore and freshman leading off, and Tina has instilled confidence with those kids. They believe in her.”

The Raiders kept their foot on the gas pedal by tacking on three more runs in the sixth inning.

“When Tina hit the home run to put us up 7-4, I felt we could keep going. But, with young players, you wonder if they will or if they will be content where they are. They wanted to put Cape away,” Coach Apt said. “We took advantage of it, scoring runs and having players move up. We took advantage of their mistakes, and when they made a couple, it opened the door. What I love about this team is if you make a mistake against us, we make you pay. Good teams do that.”

Johnson reached on an infield hit, and later scored on LeBlanc’s RBI double. Maddie McIntyre had some good fortune working in her favor when the ball skipped off the front of the plate and she beat the throw to keep the inning alive. A catcher obstruction call put Darling on at first, and a passed ball later enabled the Raiders to score another run.

Despite two errors in the seventh, the Raiders closed out the Capers and advanced to the title game — and a rematch against York, a team that handed the Raiders two of their three losses.

How did the Raiders feel about the rematch?

“Staying up. Being excited. Being aggressive, and not being scared of that team,” LeBlanc said. “Person for person, we’re better.”

As from the coach’s perspective, “We’ll need a big hit. We out hit them 9 to 5, but we couldn’t string them together. We left seven runners, you can’t do that against a team like that. We gained some confidence against them.”

Confidently, the Raiders hoped to find that the third time around was the charm.