By ANDY KIRKALDY
BRISTOL — The No. 5 Mount Abraham Union High School softball team outlasted visiting No. 12 Bellows Falls on Wednesday, 9-6, in a first-round Division II playoff game.
Launch Slideshow
The win sets up a 4:30 p.m. Saturday quarterfinal at Mount Abe between No. 13 Vergennes (4-13) and the 11-6 Eagles. Mount Abe prevailed at VUHS on April 25, 9-4.
The Eagles jumped on top on Wednesday, 7-0, in the first inning. Amber Fay had two bunt singles in the rally, Shanna Gebo and Kate Brown had RBI singles, Angela Volk drew a walk, and the Terriers committed errors on balls hit by Julia Wilkinson and Laura Livingston.
BF, which finished its season at 4-13, made it 7-4 in the fifth on three of the seven hits and two of the seven walks allowed by Gebo, who earned the win with a complete game, striking out five.
Mount Abe added a run in the bottom of the inning when Kristen Ouellette reached on an error and eventually scored on Livingston’s sacrifice fly. The Eagles scored their final run in the sixth on a Wilkinson single, fielder’s choice, error and passed ball.
Gebo allowed two more runs in the seventh and the tying run was at the plate with two outs, but she struck out the final batter to nail down the win.