When the Messalonskee and Madison high school softball teams play for their respective regional titles Wednesday, they’ll each do so against an opponent it already defeated once this season.
That won’t make the games any easier, however.
No. 2 Bangor (15-3) vs No. 1 Messalonskee (15-3)
• What: Eastern Class A softball final
• When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
• Where: Cony High School, Augusta
• Key players: Bangor — P/OF Skyler Cassum, SS Sydni Cosgrove, OF Lilli Wiseman, P/1B Cordelia Stewart, P/OF Emily Reilly, 1B Jenna Bishop. Messalonskee — P Kirsten Pelletier, OF Kristy Prelgovisk, SS Maddie Charest, 2B MollyAn Killingbeck, 1B Dakota Bragg, 3B Cassidy Baker, DP Hannah Duperry.
• Outlook: These teams met once in the regular season, a 7-1 Messalonskee win on May 5… Bangor is playing for its first regional title since 2010… Messalonskee last won the region in 2011… Pelletier has 144 strikeouts in 105 innings pitched… Bangor is 7-0 away from home this season… Messalonskee had allowed more than two runs just five times this season.
• They said it: “They’re big. They’re seniors. Their coach (Donald Stanhope) is aggressive. I think we match up somewhat evenly.” Messalonskee coach Leo Bouchard.
No. 3 Telstar (16-2) vs No. 1 Madison (17-1)
• What: Western Class C softball final
• When: 3:30 p.m. Wednesday
• Where: St. Joseph’s College, Standish
• Key players: Telstar — C Sadie Ellsworth, P Olivia York, SS Becca Howard, OF Teyhya Johnson, OF Katherine Merrill. Madison — SS Kayla Bess, P Maddy Wood, C Aly LeBlanc, 1B Erin Whalen, 2B Ashley Emery, OF Tori McLaughlin, OF Sydney LeBlanc.
• Outlook: Madison is the defending state champion, and the Bulldogs are going for their third consecutive regional title… Telstar last won the Western Maine championship in 2011. The Rebels also won the state title that season… Since 2005, Telstar has five regional titles and three state championships (2006, 2010, 2011)… In their lone game in the regular season, Madison won at Telstar 2-1 on May 11… Madison has an 11-game win streak… Telstar has won 10 games in a row.
• They said it: “I anticipate another close game with them. Offensively, we’re tough because we can do a lot of things.” Madison coach Chris LeBlanc.
“I think we match up somewhat evenly,” Messalonskee coach Leo Bouchard said of Bangor, his team’s opponent in the Eastern Class A championship game, which is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday at Cony High School in Augusta.
In the Western Class C final, Madison will take on Telstar at 3:30 p.m. at St. Joseph’s College in Standish. A victory will send defending Class C state champion Madison to the state game for the third year in a row.
Madison eked out a 2-1 win at Telstar early in the regular season.
“We had a very close game over there (Bethel),” Madison coach Chris LeBlanc said. “I don’t know if we were hitting as well as we’ve been hitting lately.”
The Bulldogs offense has been strong throughout the lineup, and LeBlanc pointed out that No. 9 hitter Sydney LeBlanc hit a triple in Madison’s semifinal win on Saturday.
“One through nine, we really have done well. If the top of the order isn’t doing it, the middle comes through, or the bottom,” LeBlanc said.
Messalonskee defeated Bangor 7-1 in early May. Bouchard said the Eagles saw three Bangor pitchers in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championship game — Skyler Cassum, Cordelia Stewart and Emily Rilley — and is ready for any of them.
“We hit all three,” Bouchard said.
Messalonskee has an ace in Kirsten Pelletier, who has 144 strikeouts and 20 walks in just over 100 innings pitched. Offensively, the Eagles are led by Kristy Prelgovisk, a power threat, Maddie Charest, who is hitting .500, and MollyAn Killingbeck, who has a .630 on base percentage. Bouchard pointed to Hannah Duperry, whose average jumped 500 points this season, and Dakota Bragg as other keys to Messalonskee’s lineup.
“(Bragg) always seems to come up with that hit when we need one,” Bouchard said.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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