Coots tosses one-hitter as Nokomis softball tops youthful Belfast 3-0

NEWPORT, Maine — Nokomis High School pitcher Mia Coots showed why she is the two-time Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B Player of the Year in a 3-0 victory over visiting Belfast on Wednesday, and Belfast freshman pitcher Emma Tripp served notice that the Lions are going to be Class B North title contenders for quite a while.

Coots tossed a one-hitter, losing her no-hit bid with two outs in the seventh, and Tripp allowed just five hits in an impressive duel that was decided by two swings of the bat.

Junior shortstop Jenna Sawtelle ripped a run-scoring double down the third base line with two outs in the fourth inning, and junior third baseman Addie Hawthorne belted a two-run homer to left with one out in the fifth to account for the game’s only runs.

Coots struck out 15 and walked two while throwing 103 pitches, 72 for strikes.

Freshman Kloe Luce’s line drive single to center in the seventh ruined her no-hit bid.

“I had everything working today,” said Coots, who will pitch for the University of Southern Maine next season. “I went in there with confidence. I made sure I was reading each batter and throwing them the pitch that was going to work well for me based on their swing.”

She wasn’t upset about losing the no-hitter.

“It wasn’t a bummer. We won the game and that’s what matters to me and my team,” said Coots, who noted that it gave them a nice boost in the Heal Points standings.

Nokomis is now 9-2 after winning its sixth straight game, including three shutouts in a row, and has a sizable lead atop the Class B North Heal Points standings.

Belfast is 9-3 and has already been assured of a first winning season for the program since 2011. The youthful Lions lineup featured one junior, first baseman Danica Gray, and everyone else was either a sophomore or a freshman.

Coots said she felt “great” in the circle.

“I’m really riding confidence right now. My team has my back. They are hitting great. And it makes it really awesome and fun to pitch when your younger sister (freshman Hallie Coots) is your catcher and is doing a great job calling the game.” said Coots.

“She is, by far, the best pitcher (we’ve faced),” said Belfast coach Kevin Gray.

“Her riseball is very tempting,” said Tripp, who struck out eight and walked three while throwing 93 pitches of which 62 were strikes.

Coots and her teammates were impressed with Tripp.

“She had real good spins. She just needs experience,” said Coots. “She is going to be really good in the coming years.”

“She was really good,” agreed Hawthorne.

Hawthorne got the game’s first hit when her grounder to lead off the fourth took a bad hop and hit off standout Belfast shortstop Jordyn MacKay’s chest for an infield single.

Sydney King sacrificed her to second and, one out later, Sawtelle turned on an inside pitch and rifled it just inside the third base bag for her double.

“I’ve been on a pretty good streak with my batting. Addie has, too. I’ve gotten a lot better at hitting inside pitches so I’m really excited about that,” said Sawtelle.

In the fifth, King dropped a pop fly single into right with one out and Hawthorne launched the next pitch over the fence for her second homer of the season.

“The pitch was a little outside,” said Hawthorne, who knew it was going to be a home run the minute she hit it.

“I couldn’t even really feel it hit the bat,” Hawthorne said, smiling. “But I saw it fly and I knew it was gone.”

Hawthorne and Sawtelle were the game’s only repeat hitters. Hawthorne had a single and a homer, and Sawtelle had a double and a single.

Both teams will return to action on Friday as Belfast will visit Cony High of Augusta for a 3:30 game while defending Class B North champ Nokomis will visit Hermon for a 4:30 first pitch.